The Legend of Zelda: The Three Sapphires
by hacknslash
Summary: A great evil has come to Hyrule, and is threatening it's very existence. It has the power to take out whole lands. Link and Zelda must beat it to the three sacred sapphires, and unravel the great mystery that binds them together. FINISHED.
1. The Shadow Revealed

The Legend of Zelda: The Three Sapphires

Chapter one: The Shadow Revealed

Hyrule was awakening.

The bright sun was just peaking over the trees, shining dim light on the sacred land. The sands of Gerudo Valley lit up, sparkling in the early morning. Lake Hylia was hit with the dazzling light, and it too shone like a beacon to weary travelers outside of Hyrule. Lon Lon Ranch was hit with the beautiful sunlight, and it fell on the figure of a ranch girl with red hair that shone gracefully in the sun. Malon looked up at the rising sun, and smiled. Another day for work.

Princess Zelda, who lay in her bed in the castle next to a large window high up in one of the towers, peered out at the dazzling sun. she squinted, and then looked down at Hylia City and Hyrule Field. She could even make out the faint line on the horizon that signified the far eastern woods. Kokiri Forest.

The princess stared out at everything, savoring the happiness that was swelling within her. Another big day, and to make it even better, they were throwing a party out on the Castle Grounds. Months of preparation, and now it was finally here.

Zelda jumped out of bed and began to get on her normal dress.

Miles away from the castle, Within Kokiri Forest, inside a small house, and laying in a bed that was far too small for him, was a man of about 17. He was garbed in green clothes, with a matching hat. A gleaming sword was hanging on the wall above him, along with his shield.

This man was Link, hero of time. The man who had slain Ganondorf with a blazing sword, the man who, by himself, distroyed a tainted mask from another land.

The bright sunlight crept into Link's room, and fell upon his face, as if to say "wake up! Wake up!"

Link opened his eyes slowly, and looked around at the brightly lit room. He quickly sat up and smiled to himself.

Today was the day of the party. He had helped the Royal Council plan it, and had worked alongside Zelda to make it all happen. After so long with just labor and toil, the party was finally here. And it was going to be great.

Everybody in Hyrule was invited. Once Ganondorf had been vanquished, all the races of Hyrule had put aside their differences and became friends. Of course, it helped that there was a sage from each race.

Link was sitting in a very odd position. His legs were draped over the end of his tiny bed, and were lodged firmly in between the dresser and his bed. He twisted himself out and fell right onto the floor.

"Ouch!" he said. He pushed himself up, and grabbed his sword and shield off the wall.

After putting them both onto his back, the elf walked out into Kokiri Village. Several of the children were already up, and running around. Link climbed down the ladder, and jogged over to Epona, his faithful brownish–red horse that had helped Link in his ventures. He hopped onto her, and they rode out of the Village. Some of the Kokiri's called out bye's to him.

He emerged into the vast fields of Hyrule, which stretched out in every direction. He grinned as he felt the wind soar over him. It felt great. He patted Epona as they rode out further, destined for Hylia City. The gates were to open in 15 minutes. Link would probably get there in 30.

Malon was feeding the horses when Ingo walked in with a horrible smirk on his face. Malon turned, and, seeing it was him, turned back to keep feeding the horses.

"Whassamatter Malon?" Ingo said. Malon already knew by the way he was slurring his words that he had been drinking. She turned furiously on him, and, when Ingo saw how angry she was, stopped walking toward her.

"What do you want, Ingo?" snapped Malon impatiently.

"Nufink..." he said blearily, "just paying a visit to my girl."

"For the last time, I AM NOT YOUR GIRL!" she shouted, disgusted. "Your near 30, and I am only 17. What's wrong with you?"

Ingo grinned. His foul breath immediately reached out and Malon smelt it. She fought back the urge to puke.

"Get out," she ordered. She said nothing more. Ingo was slightly stunned. How many times had she said that to him? He turned and angrily stumbled out of the stables.

10 minutes later, Talon walked in, holding two armfuls of hay. He saw how furious Malon looked. so he set the hay down, and walked over to his daughter, concerned.

"Is something wrong?" he asked her. She stared at a horse for a second, before answering.

"Ingo, that's what's wrong."

Talon sighed. "I know you don't like him, but he's a good worker, and we need him!"

"He keeps calling me his girl!" yelled Malon angrily. "He drinks all the time! And he frightens me!"

Talon rubbed his eyes tiredly. "Look Malon, you know me. You know that if I could afford it, I would fire Ingo the first moment I had the chance. But I can't. There's nobody else. Nobody! And if we must put up with his rank, we will. Until we get up enough money, Ingo must continue to work here."

"But where does he keep getting the ale?" Malon questioned.

"I don't know, but that's the least of our problems. We need to work harder if we are to continue to get payed by the Royal Council. They offer us a fair wage for what we sell."

"Horses and crops," Malon stated dryly. "That's all."

"Well," Talon said, "yes. That's all we have."

Malon sighed impatiently and attempted to feed the horses more hay. But they had eaten a lot and refused to swallow another bite.

She threw down the hay and said "I have to get ready for the party."

She walked out of the stables, leaving Talon to stand there, lost for words.

Link galloped into the grounds of Hyrule Castle, and saw that the party decorations and tables and fireworks were already out. People were rushing in and out of the castle, getting provisions and everything. He dismounted Epona and ran over to Zelda, who was helping put up a sign. She stopped when she saw him. Her heard skipped a few beats when she saw him, and it did for him also.

"Hey!" the Princess said, and ran over to him. They hugged for a second, then broke apart, and looked at the decorations that were going up.

"It's gonna be great," Link stated. He looked over at Zelda, and she nodded in agreement.

"My father says that it's the biggest party we've ever thrown in Hyrule. And it cost the most money."

"I am sure he's right. I mean, look at all this!" Link gestured at the decorations. They filled up the entire grounds. In a few hours, thousands of people were going to be here. Maybe even millions, counting the people who were going to be at the party in the market.

"Is Nabooru coming as well?" inquired Zelda.

"I believe so," Link replied, "she said she will probably be able to make it. She seems to be worried lately about something. What it is, I cannot say."

"Hmm," the Princess said absently. She knew Nabooru well, and wasn't very concerned about her worries. Had she been less preoccupied, she would have taken the spirit sages worries into deeper thought.

But today was to be a fun day.

Malachai stood trembling in the dark clearing of the forest that was on the left side of Hylia City. He stared into a large towering shadow. The shadow was lear 10 feet tall, and it had no features. It was just the form of a tall man. It only had two fiercely gleaming red eyes, but that was it.

"Malachai, I am sick of your pathetic whimpering!" roared the shadow. Malachai cowered at it's feet.

"P-p-please my lord, forgive me. It is difficult to find your requested items when I have no idea where to look!"

"DID I ASK YOU FOR ANNOTHER ONE OF YOUR FUCKING EXCUSES?!!" bellowed the shadow. Malachai forced himself to look up at those piercing red eyes.

"W-what am I to do?"

"You are to go to the party. You question, and you find answers. When you have any information, you return here. And if you do not return by tonight, I will hunt you down and kill you. Do you understand me?"

"Y-yes, my lord," Malachai said. He bowed, and then ran from the forest. The shadow leaned back against a tree and thought quietly about his plan. If he was to ever return to power, it had to be soon.

Link sat on a ledge on Hyrule Castle with Zelda next to him, overlooking all of Hyrule. The pair looked out at Hyrule Field, and Lon Lon Ranch. A lone figure was riding out of the entrance toward Hylia City. Link guessed it was Malon.

The Hero of Time looked over at Zelda. He was again getting caught up in her beauty. Her ocean blue eyes, her beautiful shining blond hair, her smooth skin. He looked at her face, and her incredible beauty entranced him. A sudden urge to lean over and kiss her tugged at him. He sighed inwardly. If only he had the courage to tell her.

"Look," the princess pointed. Link followed her finger and saw that she was pointing at the peak of Death Mountain. A small figure stood at the peak, looking out at Hyrule like they were.

Link laughed. It was Darunia. He watched the goron leader for a second, then used his mind, and contacted him.

Hey, Darunia!

Darunia jerked with surprise, then relaxed. It was Link contacting him through the mind touch.

Hey, Link. What do you need?

Look over at Hyrule Castle and see if you can see anything.

Darunia looked at the castle. He could barely see a thing because of how far away he was. He squinted, looking up and down the towers. He was about to give up, when he saw two figures sitting in minuscule chairs. They seemed to be watching him. He grinned.

I see you.

Link laughed.

The decorations were set. Everyone at the castle was ready. And Hyrule itself seemed to be getting ready for the big event that was only minutes away.

Nabooru was galloping toward Hylia City, along with many other Gerudo's. Darunia was rolling down the slopes of Death Mountain, with many other Goron's. Princess Ruto was swimming down the stream that led into Hylia City, with several Zora's behind her. Malon and Talon were riding toward Hylia City as well.

Nearly every being in Hyrule was on their way to the party.

They arrived quickly, and the party began. Almost everyone came onto the grounds, filling most of it up. Link and Zelda walked out of the Castle, and saw the thousands of people crowding the lawns.

"Do you think they like it?" she asked, sounding nervous.

Link looked at Zelda incredulously. "LOOK at them! Of course they like it!"

Zelda smiled, and they hurried into the party.

Hours and hours passed, and nobody ever left Hylia City. Everyone was having fun. The Zora's sang in the center of the market, and the goron's halfway through put on a drum show for whoever wanted to watch. Many people did, including Link and Zelda. Nabooru felt slightly out of place with all the citizens of Hyrule around. The gerudo's had always been a separate race, but ever since Ganondorf, everyone in Hyrule had banded together to work together in case an evil like that ever returned. The spirit sage was in constant fear of his return because she never knew for sure if he had the power to break out of the Evil Realm.

Link and Zelda knew the truth though. But they were the only ones besides the sages.

A couple hours later, when the sun was finally beginning to set, yet the party went on as fun as ever, Zelda sat on a fence a bit away from the party, watching Link spar with one of his friends, Baltus. She watched his graceful movements. She loved the way he fought. He was so good at it. The princess looked at his muscles as he worked. He was very strong. She looked at his face, and those sky blue eyes that she so often got lost in. She sighed. Why did she hold it in?

Malon walked over to the princess and sat down beside her. Zelda did not even notice her until she said, "I see that you like Link, aye?"

Zelda turned very quickly to Malon. So quickly in fact, that she cricked her neck. Rubbing it, she said "whatever gave you that impression?"

"Oh come on," Malon said, "it's obvious. You're always staring at him, and all I need to do is read the signs."

"Yeah," admitted Zelda, "I do love him. But I don't have the courage to tell him."

"That's alright, tell him when you're ready." Malon said, patting her on the back. "A lot of girls liked Link. But they eventually got over him. How long have you liked him?"

"I've loved him since we first met."

"Oh, oh my," Malon said, putting a hand to her lips.

"What? What is it?"

"Um, princess, if you only liked him, it would have gone away after about a week after you met him."

Zelda looked back at Link.

"I love him," she confessed to herself. "But how can I tell him?"

"Wait for the right time," Malon assured her. "Then you will have enough courage."

She left her to ponder her words.

The sky darkened, and night fell. Many people got tired, and some went home. Other's stayed, but eventually people left, and the decorations remained. Link was about to pack it in and ask Zelda if he could stay at the castle the night, when he saw a black figure with another figure that was down by the road.

One figure was standing over another, hunched over figure. Link quickly ran over to them, but at once the black figure began to sprint away. Link ran over to the hunched figure to discover that the man was bound and gagged. Link untied him and saw that he was bruised and bloody, a lot. Hundreds of cuts circled his body, and two big bruises swelled his left eye shut.

"Malachai," spluttered the man, "sapphires, blood, STOP HIM, THE SAPPHIRES IN THE WOODS!"

"Wh-what?" Link said, holding the man steady. He gasped and lurched away from Link. He ran off into the darkness, howling. He had been beaten to insanity, Link realized with horror.

Link turned and saw the man named Malachai sprinting down into the market. Link ran after him in hot persuit.

Malachai was puffing out in short gasps. But he dare not stop. He had to get back to his master and tell him the news.

Link tore after him, pushing through stunned Hylians who were walking through the city to go back to their houses. Link followed him to the gate, and over it, and out onto Hyrule Field. Malachai banked right, and Link ran after him, being sure to keep in the shadows so he would not be seen by him.

They quickly reached the far right side, and Malachai dove into a patch of woods. Link ran inside too, and tiptoed quietly after Malachai.

Malachai reached a clearing, and Link stayed in the surrounding wood, watching.

The clearing was small and dark because of overhanging branches. Link looked at Malachai, and then around the clearing. He saw nothing, and was about to leave, when his heart stopped.

He stared into the clearing on the far side, and saw a huge, towering shadow with huge gleaming red eyes. Malachai bowed before him and said shakily, "m-my lord, I bring news of the sapphires."

"Well?!" the shadow yelled impatiently.

"According t-to my s-s-sources, the sapphires exist and are in Hyrule somewhere."

"I ALREADY KNEW THAT SHIT!" roared the shadow. "IS THAT ALL?!"

Malachai began to sob. It was pitiful, and frightening for Link to see a fully grown man sobbing like a baby on the ground.

"I talked to everyone, but nobody knew anything else! Please my lord...NO! NO MY LORD PLEASE! PLEASE DON–"

Malachai was cut short, as the shadow swung out a huge arm with something gleaming in his hand. The next second, Malachai fell to the forest floor, and his head hit the ground next to him in a shower of blood.

Link fought back the urge to scream in fear. Who was this ruthless shadow? What were these sapphires? Link ran, away from the shadow and the decapitated Malachai. He shoved his way out of the forest and ran back to Hylia City, and inside just before the gate closed.

"Cutting it a bit close, aren't we?" a guard said, but Link pushed past him and ran back up to the grounds.

Zelda was walking back up to the castle, when she turned and saw Link sprinting toward her. She noticed at once that he was tired out of his mind, his eyes wide in fear, and he was dirty.

"Link? What happened?" Zelda asked fearfully.

The elf ran up to Zelda, gasping for air. He slouched down and grabbed her hand for support. He stood up straight, and managed to tell her about what he had just seen.

Zelda was just as afraid as Link.

"I have never heard of any hidden sapphires," the princess admitted. "But they must be important to kill a man for them."

"We must find out what they are," Link gasped, still puffing air. "I have a terrible feeling that if that shadow gets it's hands on them, something terrible will happen."

"I know," Zelda said, "we must. But first, let's get some sleep. We all need it, especially you."

She wrapped her arm around him, and helped him into the castle. That night, Link slept in Zelda's quarters, on a couch in her main room. She was in her bed in a different side room.

Link stared up at the far ceiling, pondering about the shadow and the sapphires he spoke of. What were they? And what was their significance?

He as about to find out.


	2. Decisions

Chapter two: Decisions

Zelda awoke the next morning, well rested. She stared out her window at the sun that was peeking over the far mountains, and thought about what Link had described to her last night. A shadow? It didn't make sense to her. It also didn't make sense to her that the shadow wanted three sapphires. She had no knowledge of any sapphires that were hidden in Hyrule.

She rolled over, and thought harder. But, still she could think of no stories that mentioned anything about them. She gazed at the peak of Death Mountain which was clear from her window.

Link had been awake for several hours, laying on the squashy red couch in Zelda's quarters outside of her room. He had been thinking deeply like the princess had.

The shadow that had murdered Malachai had incredible strength. Link had felt the evil power radiating from the shadow when he had seen it. He had only felt that kind of power once before.

In the presence of Ganondorf.

But this shadow was not Ganondorf. It couldn't be. This thing was different. It was a shadow, for one thing, and it's power was far beyond Ganondorf.

Link got up and paced around the room. He could not stand just lying on the couch. He had to do something.

Malon woke up and heard Ingo downstairs, rummaging through their cupboards. She furiously rose to her feet, all sleepiness gone. This was the final straw. If he was going to go through their own food without asking, she would not put up with it. She dressed quickly and ran down the stairs. She dashed into their kitchen, to find Ingo, sure enough, digging through the pantry.

Malon was about to scream at him, when she saw him pull a piece of paper out. She stopped, and stayed quiet. He did not know she was there. What was he up to?

"His lordship will be most pleased," Ingo whispered to himself. "Once he get's this, everything will go as planned–"

Malon, using her feeble magic skills, shouted a word, and a beam of light shot from her palm. It hit the paper Ingo was holding, and the paper flew from Ingo's hand and zoomed down the beam of light, and into Malon's. He whirled around the face her, his face contorted with rage.

"What the hell is this?!" she demanded, shaking the paper at him.

"Give it back to me, girl," Ingo snarled, advancing slowly on her, "or I will be forced to kill you."

Malon was frightened, but did not back down. She peered down at the paper quickly, to see it was a map of Hyrule. But it looked different. Certain places were circled, and words written in a different language were written all over the edges. And, Malon noticed that it showed things beyond the mountain range behind Death Mountain. She did not have time to look it over more, for Ingo suddenly rushed forward and slammed his elbow into Malon's head. She flew to the side and crashed into a cupboard, breaking it to pieces. The last thing she saw before she blacked out was Ingo rushing out of the house, holding the map.

"I'm going to Death Mountain today," Link told Zelda, as he slung his shield up onto his back. "I'm going to look for answers there. And I might even look beyond the mountain. Perhaps something lies beyond the borders of Hyrule."

"What gives you that idea?" the princess questioned.

"I don't know," Link replied, "but I'm going to look nevertheless. I have a feeling that the shadow–whatever it was–won't stay in the same place for long. I don't think it wants to be discovered."

"Oh Link, please be careful," Zelda said. She hugged him tightly. He hugged her back. He enjoyed hugging her. It always made him feel better about things. When they broke apart, Link strapped his sword to his back. He was ready to go.

"Here," Zelda said, handing him a small scrap of parchment, "this is a song for your ocarina. If you play it, you can talk to me. It's much like Saria's Song. So I'm calling it Zelda's Song."

Link smiled. "Sounds logical to me."

He gave her a swift kiss on the cheek, said "I'll be back before sundown," and walked out of the room. She stared after him, wishing he would stay.

Malon opened her eyes.

The house was empty. Talon was on his way to Hylia Lake to get water for the day, so he had not witnessed the violence shone by Ingo. The ranch girl tried to sit up, but her head ached so badly that she immediately fell back onto the destroyed pieces of the cupboard. She clutched her head where she had been hit by Ingo, and felt a warm liquid roll down her fingers. She looked at her hand and saw it was streaked with dark red blood. She groaned, and gingerly pushed herself to her feet slowly. She almost fell over, but held steady. The room swam and spun before her bleary eyes. She leaned against the wall, trying to clear her muddled thinking.

Ingo.......a map........he hit me........

She stumbled over to another cupboard, and fished out a bandage. She tied it over the bleeding bump, she as she tied it off, she yelled in agony.

She sat down in a nearby chair, her legs shaking violently. She sat there for ten minutes, and, once she had regained her ability to walk, she stood up, and walked outside.

Ingo was nowhere to be seen. No big surprise. She had not expected him to stick around after what he had done.

Malon walked over to the stables, and got a horse out. She climbed on top of it, and, hoping she was strong enough to ride after being hit so violently, galloped out of the ranch.

Every bounce hurt, and she gritted her teeth, fighting back the urge to scream out a curse. But she had to reach the castle.

She had to tell Link what had happened.

Link rode up the steep paths of Death Mountain upon Epona. He was going to talk with Darunia, and perhaps have him join him on his quest beyond the mountain. He didn't know how he was going to explain the evil he had witnessed the night before, but he had to somehow.

He knew his brother would understand.

As he rode up, the elf noticed that Epona was riding as close to the craggly brown walls of Death Mountain as she could.

"Don't worry," Link said, patting her side as they rode, "you won't fall."

He knew he had done nothing to reassure her, because she kept on galloping right by the wall.

When they arrived at the entrance to Goron City, Link dismounted, and Epona seemed a little relieved to be on a ledge that had more to walk on. He smiled as he watched her walk slowly around the ledge, then entered the city at a run.

The huge room stretched out before him. He stepped to the side on the top ledge he was standing on to let around six baby gorons roll past him. He looked out over the room, and down onto the bottom floor. It seemed very far from where he was. Looking around, he saw that all the gorons seemed happy. This was a very peaceful colony. The room was lit up with a slight tinge of yellow that filled every part of the large place. At it was warm. Not hot, but just pleasantly warm enough for comfort. He kicked a loose stone off the ledge, and looked down to watch it fall to the far floor.

One goron stopped rolling, seeing it falling, and it faced upward, opening it's huge cavernous mouth. The rock fell in, and he gulped it down with a huge smile.

He kept on rolling.

Link couldn't help but laugh in spite of his worry. He loved the gorons, and always had.

He made his way down the stairs and to the main floor, where many gorons were gathered, just talking and rolling, and eating huge handfuls of the finest rock. He walked through all of these, and reached the large stone door that blocked Darunia's chamber, the fire sage, and Link's own sworn brother. He knocked on the ancient door, sending bits of rubble down on his hat.

The door swung open into darkness. Had he been younger, this would have frightened him, but he had done this too many times over the years to be afraid of it. He walked purposely into the darkness, and within five seconds of walking, found himself standing in the throne room of the king goron.

Link looked over at Darunia, sitting in his rock throne. He had a plate of rubble beside him, and two guard gorons stood on either side of him.

"BROTHER!" he bellowed, jumping up, and hitting the floor with a loud carrying BOOM! Rocks fell from the ceiling, and Link looked up at it curiously. But before another thought crossed his mind, a pair of huge strong arms wrapped around him, and he found his face being shoved into Darunia's chest as the huge goron king hugged him.

"Hey, brother," Link replied with a grin when they broke apart. "How's life treatin' you?"

"Never better," Darunia replied with a similar grin set on his face. "Would you like some of these?"

He reached for the plate of rubble, but stopped himself with a chuckle.

"Of course, I keep forgetting. Elves don't eat rock, now do they?"

"No," Link said with a laugh, "we eat regular food."

"Well, doesn't mean we don't drink!" Darunia boomed, "would you like some tea? Anything?"

"Yeah, tea, thanks," the elf replied. He sat down at the opposite table, and Darunia snapped his huge sausage-shaped fingers.

Two more gorons entered the throne room, carrying a plate of tea. They handed one cup to Link, and the other to Darunia, (who's cup was at least three times the size of Links,) and rushed out again.

"So, brother," the goron king said, "what brings you to Goron City?"

Link frowned, and took a gulp of tea. "Unfortunately Darunia, this matter is not fun. It's very serious. So serious in fact, that a man died last night for knowing it."

Darunia stared for a second, then immediately turned serious.

"Died? Wow, that's not something I've heard for a long time happen in Hyrule. What happened?"

Link quickly explained what he had witnessed the night before. When he was done explaining, Darunia was up out of his throne and pacing around the room.

"This isn't good Link," the fire sage said solemnly. "That shadow has incredible power, and I don't really know what it is. We need to find out where it came from and why, and what the hell these 'sapphires' he spoke of are."

"Well I'm venturing out beyond Death Mountain soon," Link said. "Will you come with me and help me look for answers?"

Darunia looked surprised at the thought of leaving Hyrule, but said quickly "of course. But I need to bring protection."

"Protection? But your fists should provide en–"

Darunia drew out twin axes from a nearby cabinet and twirled them expertly.

"Fists aren't enough protection from what lies out there," he stated darkly, taking two sheaths from the wall, strapping them to the sides of his belt and putting the axes into them.

"Ok," Link said, "it's good that you've got weapons now. When shall we leave?"

Darunia frowned for a second, then replied "whenever you see fit, brother."

"Then now," he said, getting up. Darunia stood up without a moments hesitation.

"Then let us go," the goron king said, "and let us find the answers that we need."

Malon charged through the castle halls, knocking guards aside as she did. She ran as fast as she could in a dress toward Zelda's Quarters, where she was sure that Link was staying.

When she reached the doors and opened them, she did not find Link in the room, only the princess herself, who was sitting on a couch.

"Malon?" Zelda said, surprised. She got up and looked the ranch girl up and down. She was sweating, and panting.

"Link..." she gasped, leaning against a wall, "I need....to see....Link!"

"He left early this morning for Death Mountain," Zelda said with a slight frown, "why do you need him?"

Malon collapsed into a chair, gasping for air. "I need to tell him....what.....Ingo...."

"Malon," Zelda said, "take a deep breath...and please tell me what happened that is so urgent."

Malon took a few steadying breaths and explained what had happened at Lon Lon Ranch. She found herself shaking as she relayed the information to her. Once she had finished, Zelda was even more worried than she had been before.

"This can't be a coincidence," she muttered, standing up. She looked around absently, thinking about things. Malachai, as Link had explained it, had called the shadow "my lord". And Ingo, as Malon explained it, had called a mysterious being "his lordship". Both were familiar, and she was almost entirely sure that the two things were tied in with each other.

"Um, your highness?" Malon said, tentatively. "What can't be a coincidence?"

Zelda turned back and looked at Malon, sitting there, looking both frightened and puzzled. Zelda told Malon about what Link had witnessed the previous night, and once she was done telling this to her, she was even more distressed.

"Something big is happening in Hyrule," Zelda stated with dread, "and this must have been planned for a while. Whatever is happening, we need to investigate. We can't leave all of this up to Link."

Malon hesitated for a second, then stood up. "Your right," she said, "its time for me to do something worthwhile besides work on the ranch."

Zelda nodded knowingly, and started for the door.

"Wait," Malon said, "what are we going to do?"

Zelda looked back at her and gave her a slight smile, as if she should already have known the answer.

"We're going after Ingo."


	3. Separate Battles

Chapter three: Separate Battles

Link and Darunia walked along a long path that wound through snowy mountains on either side of them, Link with a bag slung across his back with food inside it for both of them. They were hours past the known border to Hyrule, and it was absolutely frigid. The snowy caps of the mountains loomed high overhead, and they were many times bigger than Death Mountain. The sky was still blue, but strangely tinted in this part of the land. The whole place had an ominous feel to it, and Link did not like it.

Darunia on the other hand, was looking up at the dark mountains with interest. He had never been outside of Hyrule before, and was quite curious about it. As they walked, Link noticed that he was walking slightly slower than Link, so he could look everything over. Link was sure that the goron did not feel the strange feeling that he did. It only made him feel more nervous rather than lighten the tension that had knotted inside him.

The sun was high overhead, and it should have shone blinding light, but, strangely, it didn't. It was dim, in fact, where they were. Link was beginning to feel that it wasn't such a good idea to leave Hyrule for answers. But he was not about to turn back now. No, they had to press on.

Link did not notice it, but large red eyes were peering out at them as they walked past, through crevices in the mountains. They withdrew when they walked past, but reappeared when they were at a safe distance.

Link could feel the hair on his neck standing up. Was it just his imagination? No, it couldn't be. There were other things here than just them. Almost casually, he drew his sword out. Darunia cast a sideways glance at the shining blade, and drew out his twin axes.

"There are things surrounding us," Link said as quietly as he could, "don't stop walking. They reek with an unfamiliar stench. If they attack, spare only one. They might have the answers we're looking for."

Darunia nodded. Link stared straight ahead, his entire body tensed up, ready for battle.

A flicker of movement caught his eye on his right. His head snapped around. Without warning, near ten moblins leapt out from behind a pile of rocks. They wore heavy armor, carried broadswords, and they were black skinned, instead of the traditional green. They landed in front of the pair, and swung their swords. A surge of adrenalin shot through Link as the familiar wave of battle came over him. He blocked two swords with his own, and pulled his shield out in front of him as a rain of black arrows from the surrounding mountains came down. Darunia dodged these as best he could as he fought off the attacking moblins, but some grazed his side leaving long gashes on his brown skin. He roared with pain, and suddenly lashed out, punching a moblin in the head. The blow cracked it's skull, and blood shot everywhere, splattering the fire sage. As he continued to fight, Link was busy trying to hold off the other moblins. He slashed a couple limbs off, but there were still three or four moblins still trying to cut him to pieces. He ducked a swing from a moblin to his right, rolled between their legs, and hopped up behind them. The moblins were dim-witted and were too slow to realize what had happened. Link snapped ones neck, cut the head off another, kicked one to the ground, and punched the other. He sank his blade into moblin that was on the ground. It bellowed an unearthly noise and black fog erupted from it. It flew around Link, blinding him. He fell over and blinked through the haze, trying to see.

The strange fog covered Darunia also, and the moblin he was about to kill tripped him. He hit the ground on his back, and saw a gleaming blade go shooting toward his throat. He was not able to get his hands up in time....

"YAAAAH!!!" bellowed Link, leaping blindly through the fog. He landed on the moblins back just in time to have it drop the sword and save Darunia's life. Link pulled the moblin to the ground, slit it's throat, and tore it's skull wide open with his gauntlets.

The black mist faded, and the two heroes, slightly stunned by this attack, looked at their handiwork.

Blood splattered the ground everywhere. Droplets were covering Darunia and Link, but they did not care much. The moblin that had just had it's head ripped open was lying motionless at Link's feet. Parts of it's brain were pouring out of it's bleeding skull, and bone was sticking out of the rotted flesh. The smell was incredible, and Link nearly threw up.

A finger tapped Link's shoulder. Link turned toward Darunia, and saw him pointing to a gasping, dying black moblin. It's throat was cut and blood was pouring all over the ground, but it was still alive. Link and Darunia rushed over.

"Where did you come from? Tell me and I will ease your passing." Link said menacingly, holding his bloodstained blade to the monsters heart.

It gasped, made a gurgling sound, and said "h.....he.......HE commands us..."

"Who?!" demanded Darunia.

"The.....the one who joined...he has returned to....the sapphires...home..."

The moblin was nearly dead. With one trembling finger it pointed eastward, through a small path where the moblins had leapt out from. It shuddered violently, let out a hoarse, strangled yell, and went limp.

As if all of this hadn't been a shock to them, a jet black arrow suddenly sank into the moblins skull, not an inch from Link's hand. The two stood up and looked up to see other black moblins with bows were shooting at them from ledges on the mountains. They looked grave, and pissed off that they had just killed what might have been an entire squad.

"THROUGH THE PASS!" Link shouted, and, seizing the gorons arm, he pulled him out of open ground as a rain of black arrows followed them. They ran through the pass where the black moblin had indicated, knowing not what they would find now.

Princess Zelda and Malon stood outside the entrance to Lon Lon Ranch.

"My father will want to know where I have gone," Malon noted to the Princess quietly.

"You will be back soon enough. He will have no need to worry," answered Zelda.

"Ok, but how are we going to find Ingo now?" questioned Malon.

"With this," Zelda said, and she drew out what looked to be a strange pair of goggles. They were completely black, and had words written in ancient Hylian on them.

"What are they?" asked Malon in wonder.

"These were found many years ago in the woods surrounding Hyrule," explained Zelda. "We don't know who made them or where they are from, but we know that they show us footprints that nobody else can see with the naked eye. When I put these on, I will be able to locate Ingo's footprints and we can follow him right up to where he is at this precise moment."

Malon stared at her as the Princess slipped the strange goggles on, then tied them off, and observed the ground.

"There," she pointed a finger at a patch of ground not far from where Malon was standing. "They lead from the ranch...to..."

Zelda's head moved upward. Malon guessed she was following the trail.

"Into the forest..." Zelda whispered, pointing to the forest just east of Kokiri Forest that were many miles away. Nobody had ever set foot in those woods.

Until now.

"We...we're going in there, are we?" said Malon tentatively, struggling to keep her voice even. "How w-will we find him?"

"We will follow the footsteps," answered Zelda simply.

"And what happens when we get to him?" questioned Malon loudly.

"We either kill him, or imprison him and find out what the hell is going on with the shadow and him, and that map, and the three sapphires that Malachai spoke of."

Malon's eyes widened. She didn't know what she had expected when she had agreed to go after Ingo, but, she had never killed a living thing in her life, unless you counted bugs. And that was when she was little. She was a fully grown woman now, and she was very nervous.

"But I c-can't fight!" Malon said, trembling.

"Here, take this," Zelda said. She took out a small dagger from a pouch on her waste and tossed it to Malon. She caught it by the hilt and stared at it. It was smooth and shiny and was flawless. This was a weapon made by the royal family, and she was amazed to be holding it.

"On the way, you will practice with that," Zelda ordered, as she started walking off, following the invisible footprints with her eyes, "and by the time we catch up with the bastard, you had better know how to use 'em."

The ranch girl decided not to point out the fact that the princess was being bossy, and went along with it. She knew that the reason for her bossiness was that she was stressed out. That was how it was for her. Shaking the thought out of her head, she looked down at the glittering blade she held delicately.

Wondering if she was up to it, she swung the blade around. It made a satisfying whisshh! As it passed through the air. She grinned, and did it again. Again, it made the same pleasant sound. Without really thinking, she began to swing it back and forth very fast, pretending to slash at Ingo's ugly face. She started to chuckle, but stopped abruptly when she heard "MALON! STOP HAVING FUN AND COME ON!"

Exceptionally embarrassed, she slipped the dagger into her belt and ran after Zelda, who was striding along toward the forest, still observing the footprints intently.

Link and Darunia sprinted down the thin valley that led to the eastern parts of the unknown mountains. They both spotted a small crevice to their right, and dove into it, the black arrows still flying after them. They collapsed into the crevice, and fell into a dark cave. Laying flat on their backs, all that was heard was the still soft thumping of the black arrows still shooting at them, and their heavy breathing.

Several minutes passed, until finally the arrows stopped hitting the ground. The pair lay there in the small cave, listening intently for any voices. None came.

Turning his head to the side, the Hero of Time looked at the shadowy face of his sworn brother.

"Alright?" Link said, patting the fire sage's arm, "how was that for some action, aye?"

Darunia stared at Link, and was surprised to see that Link was grinning.

"You enjoy this, don't you?" laughed Darunia.

"Why, don't you?" said Link, bewildered.

"Well, I'm not used to it as much as you, brother," he replied lightly, closing his eyes. "To tell you the truth, I'm completely drained."

"Don't blame you," muttered Link, looking up at the small sliver of light that was the entrance that they had dove through. It was quite a ways up, and Link was surprised they hadn't hurt themselves when they had landed. "They're camping out there, and as soon as we show our faces, they're going to shoot the living fuck out of us."

Darunia was surprised to hear Link curse. He barely ever said stuff like that. However, Darunia rarely saw Link so serious. The last time he had seen Link like this was in the Fire Temple right before his epic battle with the fire demon Volvagia. Link eased himself up off the dirty rock floor and crawled to the side of the cave. At this angle, Link could see right through the opening. Around twenty moblin archers were standing up on the ledges of the far mountains, theyr bows strung, aiming right at the mouth of the cave. So, Link had guessed correctly. They were just waiting.

"What do we do now?" Darunia whispered into the silence.

"We'll spend the night here. If they are still here in the morning, I'll open fire on them with my own bow."

Darunia nodded, and sat up, with a very animal-like groan.

"What's to eat?"

Link couldn't help but laugh out loud. Darunia did too. For a few minutes, the two shared a moment of laughter, before calming down. Link took the pack full of food they had brought with them off his back, and unzipped it. Taking two large chunks of rock out for Darunia, and some soft bread for himself, the two chowed down. When they were done eating, they both retreated to separate sides of the cave, and laid down. Darunia fell asleep, but he didn't snore, oddly enough. Link dozed for a while. The sky outside darkened, but the evil black moblin archers remained. When Link next awoke, the stars were out. He decided to contact Zelda with Zelda's Song and tell her all that had occured.

Zelda and Malon had entered the forest by now, and night had fallen. It was dark, but they continued to walk. Malon wanted to just lay down and rest for the night, but Zelda refused. But, they finally did stop after two more hours of walking. Even Zelda was tired, and the footprints were going nowhere. They laid down on the hard ground, and Malon fell asleep instantly, but just as Zelda was about to sleep, a voice erupted in her ear.

"Zelda? Can you hear me?"

Zelda sat bolt upright, but then realized that it was Link. He had contacted her from the ocarina.

"Hey, Link. Yes, I can hear you. Where are you?"

"Well," Link looked around at the cave, and up at the figures of the archers still watching them closely. "I'm in a big dark cave with Darunia sleeping ten feet away, and we're pinned down inside here with black moblin archers camping on us at the moment."

Zelda's eyes widened. "Oh Link, are you two alright?"

"We're a bit dirty and have a few cuts and bruises, but yeah, we're okay."

"What happened?"

Link hesitated for a second, still looking out at the night sky that looked so foreign, and told Zelda about all that had occurred since he left the castle that morning. When his narrative was finished, he fell silent, waiting for Zelda to reply.

"I can't believe this. Do you think the black moblin's have something to do with the shadow?"

"I would be surprised if they didn't. Tomorrow morning we're going to get out of here...somehow....and find the headquarters of those black moblin's."

"But how will you survive, Link?" cried Zelda. "Walking right into a fortress? Or whatever it might be. What if you're killed? I couldn't live with that!"

"We'll be alright, don't worry. By the way, what happened today with you?"

And so Zelda then told Link of her smaller adventure with Malon. When she had finished with how they had ended up in the forest, Link was silent, and worrisome.

"I have a feeling that many important things are going to be decided tomorrow."

"Me too," Zelda replied, "but I am anxious about what that might mean."

"Me too," Link also said, "though we must press on. You keep hunting Ingo. You find him and interrogate him. You train Malon, and we will find the fortress. We need to find out what these sapphires are. So many questions unanswered. But now, I must rest."

"So must I. I wish you the best of luck."

"Good night, Zelda. I love you."

Zelda smiled, and a tear fell down her cheek. She loved him too, though she did not know if he meant just as a friend, or more. She comprimised by saying "I love you too, Link."

Both elves love for each other swelled to something huge in that one moment. Their love for each other was beyond this world. Link and Zelda withdrew from contact, and both went to sleep, thinking about what was to happen the following day, and about their great love.


	4. The Dead Fortress

Chapter four: The Dead Fortress

The Hero of Time opened his eyes, and found himself staring right into the head of a black arrow. He forced himself not to jump up. He would have an arrow through his brain before his head had lifted.

The black moblin archer holding the bow glared down the arrow shaft with fiery red eyes showing pure evil hatred in every line. Fear touched Link as he saw those piercing eyes.

"You're coming with me, elf," the creature grunted gruffly, and seized him roughly by the neck. He forced him up to his feet. Two others were at his sides at once, holding swords to him.

"Try to escape and you're dead," growled the one on his left.

"Yeah," added the one on the right.

Link just stared blankly, trying not to let his anger reach it's boiling point. He had to bide his time before trying what he was thinking about doing...

The black moblin's led Link outside, and Link was not surprised to find Darunia standing outside in the bitter mountain air with a guard of around ten moblins. Apparently they did not trust a goron. Though Link did not blame them, he gritted his teeth in anger. He mustn't lose his temper...they might have the answers they were looking for...

"What is it you intend to do with us?!" Link growled, struggling to keep his voice even.

"SHUT THE HELL UP!" a moblin yelled, and whacked him over the head with a spear butt. Little white stars popped in front of Link's eyes. He sagged to the ground, his mouth open.

"Don't.....touch me....."

Link could not control it. His anger was too much. The Triforce on the back of his hand glowed brightly. It flashed across the ground, blinding everybody but Link and Darunia. The power took hold of Link, and he suddenly forced his muscular arms upward, sending the surrounding moblins flying in all directions. He dove through the flying crowd, his eyes blazing and fiery green. He reached Darunia's guard, and without bothering to draw his sword, punched one moblin in the head. The force of the Triforce punch crushed it's skull inward, and caused it's brain the rip out the back of it's head, showering dark blood everywhere in the melee. Link drew out his sword and hurtled it into three other moblins at once. He ran at unnatural speeds, and jumped atop the last living demon. He forced his hands into the moblins mouth, took both sides....

And tore the moblins head into two pieces.

Darunia saw the entire process, and was stunned. He had never seen Link fight so ferociously.

The Triforce light faded, and Link's eyes returned to blue.

Bodies littered the mountain grounds, and blood and bowels splattered the mountain sides. It was grotesque, but Link did not care at the moment. He was so angry at himself, he actually considered punching himself for a second.

"NO!" he bellowed, slamming a fist into the mountain wall. "WHY COULDN'T I CONTROL MYSELF?!"

Darunia laid a hand on Link's shoulder comfortingly.

"Do not worry," the goron said soothingly, "we will still find their base. We're on their path and they will have no way to stop us."

"Yeah," Link said, not convinced at all, "yeah, I spose..."

He walked over to his sword which was still buried in a moblin's heart. He put a foot on it's head, and yanked the blade out. He sheathed it, picked up the pack of food that the moblin's had taken, and with a simple "let's go," walked off further down the valley, Darunia hurrying along in his wake.

"Malon! You're holding the blade the wrong way!" snapped Zelda impatiently.

"Sorry!" gasped Malon, straightening out the dagger in her hand. This was the first training session and she wasn't doing very good. Zelda was an impatient teacher, but a good one at that.

"Here," Zelda said, "what would you do if I came at you like this?"

She swung her dagger at Malon's head. Malon was a bit surprised, but caught on quickly enough the block the blow and stab back with lightning fast reflexes. But it wasn't enough. Zelda blocked it with ease, and swung at Malon's kneecaps. She wasn't fast enough, and felt the cold steel touch her legs.

"You have a ways to go," the princess said, taking her sword off the ranch girls leg and putting it in her sheath. "But you're getting better."

"I don't feel like it," said Malon angrily, also sheathing her dagger. "Why can't I get it right?"

"You're being too hard on yourself," replied Zelda, "just relax. You've made nice progress for your first training session. If we catch up to Ingo today, I may have to take him alone."

Malon felt both annoyed and angry at herself. She wanted to hurt Ingo, and torture him for information. She wasn't usually like this, but in the face of that man, she would do anything to kill him. He had caused her far too much annoyance and pain over the years. And if she was going to do something about it, she wanted to be part of it, rather than sit back and watch.

"Again," said Malon quietly.

"What?" Zelda said sharply.

"Again!" repeated Malon, taking her dagger out. "I want to learn more."

Zelda stared for a second, then took out her sword again. "Very well," she said, "but we must be brief. If we are to catch up with him, it must be soon. No more taking breaks."

And so they practiced, and practiced......and practiced. They did it sometimes not moving, but usually on the go, walking and talking about sword moves, Malon's experience with the blade growing all the while. Zelda was not nearly as good as Link in the art of sword fighting, but she was good enough to put up a very strong battle. She taught Malon all she knew, and by 1:00 in the afternoon, still on Ingo's trail, Malon was very skilled. She felt confident, and Zelda admitted it to herself that she had all her confidence in the ranch girl, also. Malon was very good. For this, she was grateful. She was no longer the only one with power in this fight.

Link and Darunia stood still, staring around at the big clearing.

It was the end of the valley, and all they had walked into was a huge empty clearing, with nothing but rocks. The mountains towered over them, casting long threatening shadows over the ground. It was ominous, but there was nothing here.

Finally, Darunia broke the silence.

"What the hell are we supposed to be looking for?" he blurted. His deep voice echoed off the mountain walls. Link just stared blankly. Had the dying moblin pointed them in here to trap them? He doubted it. Few people who were that close to death could think that quickly. No, there had to be something here...there just HAD to...

Without really thinking, Link found himself walking into the large open area. Darunia stood still, watching the Hero of Time studying everything. If anyone was to figure out this mystery, it was him.

Link ran a hand along a boulder, trying to shut out all thought and consider every possibility. He closed his eyes and scrwed up his face in thought.

Nothing came to mind. Frustrated, he slammed a hand against the boulder.

"What are we–?"

The rock shifted. It was so small and such a tiny, distinct movement that Link barely felt it, and it could have been easily overlooked. He looked back at the boulder, looking it up and down. He put both hands on it, and walked alongside it. He felt nothing unusual, but still, did not leave it. He examined it a bit longer, then pounded it again. The stone wobbled, but remained stationery.

Link took out his sword, and slapped the flat of the blade as hard as he could against the rock, making a peculiar noise ring through the mountains. He nodded, and sheathed his sword.

"This is not a rock," he stated, "it is only a mimic."

He pulled back a fist, and slammed it as hard as he could into the boulder. On contact, it burst to pieces, little pieces flying everywhere, sending a wave of dust over the ground, reaching around their ankles.

Link and Darunia stared. Where the rock used to be, there was a large gaping hole in the ground, wind sucking into it.

Link stared at it for a second, then walked toward it, drawing his sword back out.

"Come on, we're going in," ordered the elf. Darunia stared for a second longer, then walked over to him.

"Are you sure?" the Fire sage asked, "it looks dangerous."

"As if all of this so far hasn't been?" countered Link, and without another word, he leapt into the hole, with the pack of food still upon his back. He was closely followed by Darunia.

Surprisingly enough, it was not a long drop. They fell for a second, then landed on thier feet on solid ground, in complete darkness. Link felt Darunia drop down next to him.

"Turn on a light!" he exclaimed.

Link muttered a word from the ancient language, and felt the magic rush to his hand. A ball of fire rose from his palm and hovered there, casting flickering shadows around them. As far as they could tell, they were in a small room, with close walls on either side of them. There was an opening in front of them, so they walked through it. It stayed just as dark, and they found themselves walking down sloped ground. They followed the trail for at least a quarter mile in complete silence, neither wanting to say anything. It was as if they were afraid to break the eerie quiet. All that was heard was the strangely muffled footsteps from their walking.

Finally, after around 15 minutes of walking, they felt the ground level out, and the tight walls suddenly disappeared. They were in an ENORMOUS cavern. It looked to be at least 70 yards long, and likewise wide. The grimy walls were faded blue, there were small candles dotting the walls, but they were blue flame.

But the thing that was most strange about the place, was that almost every square inch of the floor was covered in the dark, bloody skeletons of dead moblins.

When they saw this, it was followed by one of the loudest silences Link had ever experienced.

Everywhere, as far as they could see in the darkness, the floor was made of bones. There might have been multiple layers, they didn't know. Nor did they want to find out. The walls were splattered in dark sticky liquid, and Link was very sure it was their blood. Link, horrified, tried not to puke. He looked at his feet, and saw a moblin skull inches from his left foot. It's dark, blank eyes stared right through his soul as he looked at it. The top of the skull still had pieces of bloody skin attached to it.

"Oh.....oh goddesses...." Link leaned over and heaved loudly, emptying his stomach on the floor beside him. Darunia reached over and patted the sick elf gently on the back. He continued to throw up for a few more minutes, then, taking a deep, steadying breath, pulled himself back up, staring around at the gruesome sight.

"We have to go across it," announced Darunia.

"I....I know..." breathed Link. "who could have done –?"

"I have an idea that the shadow must have something to do with this."

"Yeah, your probably right. Let's go."

The pair cautiously stepped onto the skeletons. They crunched under their feet. They stood for a second, then walked right onto the floor of the dead.

For nearly a half hour, they crunched through the skeletons, again in absolute silence. It was so disgusting, that Link almost threw up again. Darunia actually almost did too, but he had a stronger stomach than Link, which was strange, seeing as how Link had seen many many terrible and horrible things in his life. Link had ripped enemies to pieces and been showered in their blood, and not even taken a second glance, but there was something about this sight that made him sick. He tried to ignore it, trying to stare straight ahead, still holding the ball of fire.

When they finally reached the opposite wall, they only saw one thing – a large throne with a huge skeleton still sitting in it, pieces of his skull missing, and beside the throne, engravings in ancient Hylian in the wall.

"I don't believe he can tell us much," noted Link, "but perhaps that could be important."

He pointed at the inscriptions. It was a paragraph, and it did not take long for the pair to decipher it:

May the goddesses have mercy on the soul of the person who reads this, for it has caused great pain and suffering to all

If one is ever to find the three sacred diamonds, scattered, divided, in secret, he will have the greatest power of all planted inside of thou. They are the things of dreams, and of nightmares. If ever one of evil intent was to find these sacred stones, blood will be spilt, the sky will darken, and everything will fall.

May he who read this be forewarned: you may be the last hope we have. For if anyone is to ever find them, this world will surely fall.

Save us.

Link finished reading it out loud, and stared at Darunia in fear.

"The three sacred diamonds...." he whispered, more to himself than to him.

"The sapphires," finished Darunia. "They are in Hyrule, hidden..."

"Hidden from evil," Link said, "the greatest power of all, if that shadow finds them, the world will fall. And we are the only ones who read this inscription....unless...."

"He was here," stated Darunia, his eyes widening. "HE did all this!"

He gestured around at all the dead moblins.

"He knows that they are in Hyrule, and he's searching for them....oh...oh my god...."

"What?"

Link had a horrible thought. An epiphany. He staggered, and his heart thumped madly. Fear coursed through him like lightning.

"Brother, what is it?!" yelled the fire sage, grabbing the stricken elf by the shoulders.

"The....the map that Ingo had....." said Link shakily, "it has the location of the sapphires on it! Zelda told me about it. Malon told Zelda that it had three places on the map circled...."

"And Ingo has the map!" shrieked Darunia. "If we don't find him, he could get to one of the sapphires!"

"And bring it and the map back to his master," breathed Link, "...the shadow."

For around ten seconds, the two stood there in fear, then Link shouted "we must get back!!"

"Yes," agreed Darunia, turning, "and we must hurry. Come!"

And the two raced off through the piles of skeletons, back the way the had come, back out of the Dead Fortress, to get back and try and save Hyrule from the coming darkness.

The sky was black overhead, and it was nearly midnight, as Darunia and Link raced from the Dead Fortress, but Zelda and Malon were now running as fast as they could, their weapons drawn. The footsteps they saw now were fresh, and Ingo was less than 10 minutes away from them.

"Let's hope he's sleeping," muttered Malon, "that would make things much easier."

"No doubt," agreed Zelda, "listen, Malon, if he isn't asleep, you realize what we have to do, right?"

Malon gulped as they ran, but nodded.

"We have to kill him," she stated.

"Yes," Zelda said. "It does not matter if he has information. He could kill us, and we must fight back. That map you told me about...does he have it with him?"

"He had it with him when he ran out of the house after he hit me," Malon shrugged.

"Good," said Zelda, "then we can use that to help us with this mystery."

They were running for five more minutes, when Zelda suddenly whispered "stop!"

Malon immediately skidded to a halt, and looked over at the princess. She had changed into Sheik, and was staring ahead of them, her red eyes glaring.

"He is up there, he is awake, and he has a fire going."

Malon's heartbeat quickened, and she twirled her dagger, getting ready to fight. This was it, the moment of truth for her. She was either going to chicken out or fight for Hyrule.

"Let's get him," snarled Malon, and the two dashed forward, swinging their swords. They crashed through trees for a second, then smashed into the clearing, where there was a small fire in the middle. Ingo was sitting at it, holding the map in his hands. He whirled around when he heard them, and, seeing who it was leapt to his feet.

They immediately registered two things about him. He looked fearful, and he was cut up. Probably from the branches in the forest.

"Hey Ingo," growled Malon through clenched teeth, acting mockingly cheery. "Did you miss me?"

"How did you find me?!" hissed the evil farmer.

"That's not important," Sheik said, "I'll tell you straight out why we're here."

And she leapt for ward, swinging her sword at his head. Malon charged after her, her dagger out, ready for action.

Ingo reacted swiftly, drawing out a sword, and blocking Zelda's swing. He was completely surprised to see Malon come flying up behind Zelda, and swing her dagger at him also. His eyes widened, and he blocked her stab. Zelda stabbed at his head, and he blocked it, but Malon was much too quick for him. She slashed him viciously in the side, and he fell to the ground screaming. He dropped his sword, clutching his side where blood was starting to ooze from his deep cut.

Malon and Zelda stood over him, eyeing him with distaste. Zelda made to chop his head off, but the ranch girl caught her wrist. "Let me do the honors," she said with a small smile. Zelda grinned, and stepped back.

Malon moved forward, dagger in hand, ready for the final action. Ingo looked up at her, his face twisted with pent up rage.

"This is not over, girl," he snarled, "it is only the beginning!!"

Malon glared at him coldly, and, with one final move, she swung her dagger forward, and chopped off his head.

The head flew away, hit a tree, and landed at it's base with a small thump. Ingo's decapitated trunk sank to the forest floor, and lay there, blood pooling beneath it.

Malon stared at the dead form for a second, then smiled. She was so happy to finally be rid of him! She almost cheered.

But, miles and miles away, just outside Hylia City, a black shadow felt his final servant crumple to death, and his eyes flashed with rage. He let out an unearthly howl of rage. The shadow began to run, as fast as he could, across the dark plains of Hyrule, bent on getting to the two people who were responsible. If they had that map, all his plans would be over. This could not happen!

Link and Darunia desperately sprinted back through the mountains, trying to get back to Hyrule, and reach Zelda and Malon before the shadow did.

The race for the sapphires had begun.


	5. Unmasking Death

Chapter five: Unmasking Death

Link and Darunia charged out of the pass they had ran through the previous day, and found saw the bodies of the slain dead moblins. They didn't stop running, they couldn't. They had to get back to Hyrule as quickly as they could.

But then Link realized something, and he stopped running.

Darunia stopped too, and stared at the heroes face through the darkness.

"Brother, what are you doing? We need to hurry!" he yelled.

"What the hell took me so long to think of it?" said Link, berating himself. He pulled out the Ocarina of Time.

"What?" the goron said, completely lost.

"Let's just warp to the Sacred Forest Meadow and find our way to Zelda and Malon from there!" Link suggested.

"Oh!" Darunia hit himself in the head, "of course! Let's warp!"

Link grabbed Darunia's arm, and played the Minuet of Forest as fast as he could.

The light encircled them, lighting up the dark mountain walls around them lime green. It got brighter and brighter, until it engulfed them completely. It shone there for a few seconds, then the light faded, and the two were gone.

They appeared in front of the Forest Temple, the temple that Link had explored so long ago, and beaten the Phantom Ganon in. He remembered that battle with distaste; that evil being had nearly bested him until he found out how to use his sword to hit back the balls of lightning it threw at him. He stared up at the entrance far above the ground, before turning to Darunia, and saying "let's go."

They ran from the clearing, down the staircase, and jumped up onto the first grass ledge in front of them. These ledges made up the walls of the maze below them, that Link once had to navigate with moblins around every corner. Now, however, with Ganondorf gone, the mazes were empty, and they simply jumped each ledge, and within thirty seconds, they jumped from the last ledge, and landed silently on the other side of the meadow, with the entrance to the Lost Woods in front of them.

Darunia was taking deep breaths, and was bending over, holding his knees. All the jumping had been a lot for him, as he had only rolled around on the ground most of his life.

"You alright?" asked Link, concerned. He put a hand on his brownish-gray back.

"Yeah," the fire sage wheezed, pushing his hand away. "I'm fine. Let's go find them."

They ran through the entranceway to the Lost Woods, their footsteps strangely muffled in the soft ancient grass. When they arrived in the Lost Woods, Link took Darunia by the arm and pulled him into the dense foliage that surrounded the many clearings.

Link didn't know if he could remember exactly how to get through here...it had been a very long time since he had set foot in the actual forest part rather than the little clearings. However, he decided to take his chances and try to make his way all the way around the Kokiri Village and into the much bigger forest that Zelda and Malon were in at that very moment.

For nearly fifteen minutes the pair crashed through the overhanging branches and vines, tripping and falling several times on the way. Halfway through their journey, Link was not careful enough, and a small branch slashed him across the face, giving him a rather nasty opened cut across his cheek. Tendrils of blood dripped down from it, but he did not care very much. The news that he and Darunia had figured out was far too important to pass by; they had to tell Zelda.

And then Link stopped again, berating himself even more this time. Zelda's song! Why hadn't he done it the first thing after they had exited the Fortress? He sighed, stopped running, and again pulled out the Ocarina. Not even bothering to tell Darunia, who was looking even more puzzled now, he played Zelda's Song.

The music buzzed in his ear, and the mind connection was forged again. The magic flew over to Zelda and Malon's clearing, about a mile away from them.

"Zelda?" Link asked tentatively.

Zelda, who was sitting down on a log next to Malon, staring at Ingo's dead body, answered "Link? Oh, hello!"

"Zelda," he said, "we reached the fortress of the moblins...."

And Link told her everything that they had found out in the Dead Fortress. Once finished, he waited for a reply.

"Well," she whispered, a hint of a smile in her voice, which bewildered Link, "you'll be happy to know that we found Ingo, killed him, and have the map with us now."

Link's eyes widened, and he grinned happily. Darunia stared.

"Perhaps that running was too much for you," the goron said, "or am I missing something? Why the hell are you smiling?!"

Link held up a finger for him to wait.

"Zelda, this is wonderful! All we need to do now is find the Sapphires before the shadow does, and we can find a way to beat him from there. Although, I think the shadow needed the map to find them. From what I saw with Malachai that night, the shadow didn't know where to find them."

"But, why did Ingo flee to the forest when he knew the shadow was by Hylia City?"

"That I don't know," the elf admitted, looking around. "But, whatever. Meet us on the edge of the forest. Can you find your way out by yourselves?"

"Yeah, we have a path to follow. But the edge of the forest stretches far...how will we know where you two are?"

"We will be close to the entrance to Kokiri Village," was his answer.

"Alright, I'll see you in about....oh, maybe a half hour."

"Okay. Oh, and Zelda?"

"Yes?"

"Be careful....I have a feeling we haven't seen the last move from this shadow."

"I will. See you in a bit."

The contact severed abruptly, and Link gleefully told Darunia the good news. Once finished, Darunia grinned as Link had.

"Let's go to the edge of the woods and meet them, then!" he said, and they ran off to exit the dense forest paths.

For around ten minutes they trekked through the trees, both not talking. Darunia was happy, and Link was too...to an extent. Even though they had a piece of crucial information about the mysterious sapphires, he couldn't shake off the feeling of dread that was inside him. This conflict had only started three days ago, and it seemed impossible that this was all they needed to end it. That shadow was too powerful, and he knew that it would want them all dead.

They emerged from the forest covered in moss. Link and Darunia wiped themselves clean, and then looked around at which side of the woods they were on. Luckily, the entrance to Kokiri Village was in view, not far away from them. They sat down together, and waited for Zelda and Malon to arrive.

As they waited, Link's mind drifted back to Zelda. He hadn't seen her for days, only heard her voice. He couldn't wait to hug her again. Again, he began to think of her light blue eyes, her unmarked face, her soft skin...he could never think about her without remembering how beautiful she was. He could see her golden hair blowing around in the wind. Only about a week before, he had given her a ride around Hyrule Field on Epona. She seemed to have so much fun when they were together, but he doubted that she saw him in the same way he saw her. He almost said her name aloud for some reason, but stopped himself, remembering that Darunia was still there. He looked around at Darunia, and saw that he was lying on his back, looking up at the stars, lost in thought.

Link turned his head out to the endless field of Hyrule, admiring how huge it was. He could not see any boundaries from here, except for the woods they were by. As he stared out, something caught his eye on the horizon.

It was so faint, that he almost missed it, but it was there. He stared at it for a second. It was dark, a little darker than the sky, and it was moving. It seemed to be getting larger, but it hadn't taken on a distinct shape yet. He squinted, trying to make it out. Still too fuzzy to see.

He squinted so hard that the edges of his eyes crinkled. The shape got bigger, and he suddenly realized with a jolt, what he was seeing.

It was the outline of a tall, dark man, running full tilt right toward them. Whether this person had seen them yet or not, he did not know.

Almost casually, he drew out his sword. Darunia glanced sideways at him and breathed "what are you doing?"

Link indicated with his sword toward the shadow moving steadily toward them. Darunia looked at it for a second, then leapt up.

"Who is it?" he exclaimed loudly. Link was about to say "I don't know," but then, again, for the third time that night, comprehension dawned. His eyes grew wide with fear. This was not a good thing to see from one of the bravest beings in Hyrule.

It was the shadow.

And it had definitely seen them.

Link leapt up also, taking his shield out. Getting into his fighters stance, he did not take his eyes away from the approaching being.

The shadow drew out two long swords that were half as big as Link was, lengthwise. It drew closer, and Link started to get extremely nervous. That unbelievable wave of power swept over him again, radiating from that shadow. He opened his mouth, now knowing whether they should run or he should fight. His eyes grew huge, his mouth hung open. Darunia did not know if he should even attempt to try and destroy the shadow if the Hero of Time wasn't sure.

The shadow was fifty yards away, and running as fast as it could right at them, swinging his identically jet black swords with him. Silent hair flew from it's head. Had it been a real man, he would have had very long hair, probably down past his shoulders.

Link suddenly had a surge of bravery, and he snarled, swinging his sword. If he was to die to this thing, he would die fighting, not running. He ran toward it too. Darunia hesitated, then dashed after him.

It only took about ten seconds for Link to reach the shadow, and when he did, the power coming from it almost made him stumble. It was incredible! He swung his sword at the things head, and it blocked the blow easily, stabbing in return with his other sword at Link's stomach. He threw up his shield, and caught the stab barely in time. He tried to bash the shadow with his shield, but it simply dodged it, and swung both swords at the same time at his head. Link ducked, and the two swords whistled right above his hat, cutting a strand of loose hair off. Darunia reached the fighting pair, but as soon as he swung a fist, the shadow swung in turn, moving his sword around at impossible speed. He smashed Darunia in the face with the sword handle, and the goron went flying ten feet into the air, landing back down with a solid thump, unconscious.

Link's rage boiled up again, and his eyes turned green as they had done that morning. His triforce sent out golden light, but the shadow did not get blinded, nor did Link. They began to fight even harder and faster, but even with the triforce power flowing through him, Link was no match for the shadow. Every time he struck sword on sword, his arms trembled, and he got weaker. They had only been battling for five minutes, when the shadow easily uppercut Link in the chin with a huge black fist. Link stumbled backwards, stunned. The shadow hurried forward, and kicked the elf to his knees.

Link, still dazed, looked up and found himself staring along the length of one of the shadows blades. It was right at his eyes.

"Somehow familiar?" the shadow said, it's deep voice reverberating around in the darkness. "We've been here before, you and I...although last time, it wasn't really me, it was more.....a part of me......"

"What are you talking about?" whispered Link hoarsely, completely lost. He knew this shadow? How?

"Still don't recognize me?" the shadow turned it's blank head to the side, apparently looking around. "Well, I guess it is hard to believe, me stuck like this, in a completely blank body, with no possible way to get out until I find a map and three objects...can't get much more pathetic than that."

The shadow spoke with intense distaste and disgust, as though he was sick of himself. The shadow spat on the ground beside him, and looked back at Link.

"Come on," it whispered, "you can do it. Think, you can recognize me. Look past the black flesh, through these blank features and see me again."

Link struggled, trying to think as hard as he could. He stared up at the black figure, trying to see anything other than black......

And it hit him. Again, for the fourth time that night. The identity of his enemy hit him hard, and he gasped loudly.

"You......you're....."

"That's right, Hero of Time, you did not defeat me. There is nowhere you can go to hide from me anymore. Nowhere to hide. And as soon as I find my prizes, you, and the rest of your pathetic world will crumble to oblivion, just as the other nearly did."

"It's not possible!" Link whispered.

"Oh, it's possible....because I am here, and there is nothing you can do to stop me."

Link stared at the shadow, and then, finally, muttered a single word. The word meant nothing, and everything at the same time. He said it so faint that only he could hear it.

".....Majora...."

The shadow drew back the sword...

"Goodbye, Hero of Time."

"LIIIIINK!"

The shadow turned around, and so did Link. They both saw Zelda and Malon running as fast as they could toward them from the woods. They were only probably fifteen feet away when they saw it.

"Link! Oh finally you....OH!"

They both stopped, and looked up fearfully at the shadow.

For a moment, everyone was still, just staring, and then...

"THE MAP!" it shrieked, and it dove on top of Zelda, wrestling her to the ground. Zelda screamed and tried to throw it off, but it clung onto her.

"NO!" Link leapt for the shadow, but suddenly, he felt an invisible barrier appear around them, and he could not get through it. Neither could Malon.

"ZELDAAAAA!!" Link bellowed, pounding on the force with his sword.

The shadow drew out the map, and studied it intently.

"Aahh..." it said, but suddenly, Link drove the sword through the barrier, and it broke. Blue sparking transparent diamonds flew everywhere, and disappeared into the air. He rushed toward them. The shadow dropped the map, apparently it was unneeded. He leapt from Zelda, and ran from them, shouting back to them before he faded into the darkness, "THEY ARE MINE NOW, HERO OF TIME!! THE CLOCK IS TICKING!!"

And the shadow disappeared into the night, leaving all three of them in stunned silence.

Link stared after the shadow for a second, then sank to his knees, utterly spent.

"Link!" yelled Zelda, and she ran to him, still holding the map. She reached him, and pulled him upright, holding him to her.

"Zelda," he gasped, trying to speak, but he was so dazed and confused that it was hard to realize that the action was over for a second. He hugged her tightly back. The two sat there hugging for a few seconds, then they broke apart, and Malon walked over.

"What happened, Link?" she asked, confused.

Link bent over, breathing hard, then looked back up and saw both of them watching him closely. He was silent for a second more, then told them how the shadow and him had dueled.

"I've never experienced that much power. It's not possible, it's insane!" he exclaimed, opening up his flask and taking a grateful swig of water.

"Who is he?" hissed Zelda, staring off at where the shadow had disappeared.

Link stared at her, thinking hard. It was hard for his brain to process who and what the shadow was. Now that he knew, he wasn't sure if he wanted to know.

"He is Majora," whispered Link, just loudly enough for them both to hear him, "the mask forger from long ago. He has returned somehow in shadow form, found his way to my homeland, and found a way to regenerate to his full strength."

Zelda and Malon were wide-eyed.

"Majora?" gasped Malon. "Isn't he the–"

"I have never met him before," muttered Link, interrupting her, "but I have met his soul. It was imprinted into Majora's Mask, and that alone nearly tore apart an entire land."

Zelda walked slowly over to Link, and breathed "it's actually him? His entire form?"

He looked up at her, and nodded. "If he fully regenerates, everything, and I mean i everything /I will be destroyed."

All three were silent.

"How is it possible?" questioned Malon, "how can he destroy everything?"

Link took a moment to answer, but when he did, the words came slowly and gently.

"He is evil. He is the most evil being ever to exist. He is the very symbol of evil. His power extends beyond this world, and others. Ganondorf could have been batted aside like a fly up against this monster. He is evil itself, and he will not stop until everything is gone. His very mask tainted a child and almost destroyed an entire land. Imagine what he could accomplish if he were at his full power."

The group sank into a terrified silence. Malon held her knees, trying to imagine every single thing created being torn to pieces, but the theory was too big to grasp. Zelda sat next to Link, shaking. Majora was on the hunt for the sapphires, and if he found them, that was it. They failed.

It seemed amazing that only days ago, all three of them had been sleeping happily in their beds, without a single worry in the world. Now, only a few days later, they were filthy, their clothes were ripped, they were far out in the open and they were talking about the possibility of total annihilation of everything Din, Nayru and Farore had created. Going back home was out of the question. Now that they knew the truth, they were the last hope elf-kind and everyone else had.

"We need to get moving," Link whispered, "Majora is after the sapphires, and we must beat him to the first one."

He got up, and Malon and Zelda followed suit reluctantly. Link suddenly remembered that Darunia had been knocked out, and ran over to his crumpled form. He shook the unconscious goron, and heard him groan.

Link stood up and nudged him with his foot. Darunia rolled over, squinting up and Link. His vision was blurred.

"B-b-brother?" he stuttered, his voice trembling, "wh-what happened?"

"It's okay, Darunia," Link said, reaching down and hoisting him up with difficulty, "he's gone."

He supported Darunia over to Zelda and Malon, and the three explained what they had discovered to him. When he was told who the shadow was, Darunia yelled "hey! Thats–"

Link held up a hand to silence him. "We know, we know. Just let us finish."

By the time they had finished talking, Darunia was fully awake and pacing.

"Everything....destroyed....." he couldn't even think of it. "It won't happen. I WON'T LET IT!"

"Let's go," Malon said, "we need to go find the first sapphire. And I believe..."

Malon flipped out the map and studied it...

"...that Majora went for the sapphire in the forest." she indicated the forest they had just exited. Zelda couldn't help but groan. They had to go back into there? She hated those woods.

"We have one advantage," noted Link, addressing all of them, "Majora imprinted the map into his mind. He only knows the relative location of the sapphires, not the exact location. We do know the exact location, so we have a slight advantage. If we're lucky, we may be able to beat him to the first sapphire. You with me?"

Link stuck his hand out. Oddly, he had not meant to put out that hand with the triforce on the back. But he did. He stood there with his hand outstretched for a few seconds, then Zelda put her hand on his. Darunia slapped his huge paw on, and Malon followed him.

"Let's get moving then....group." Link laughed slightly. They smiled weakly, then ran toward the forest, now fully into the race for the sapphires.

Several hours later, the four of them were trekking through the forest, moving branches out of their way. Link studied the map intently, making sure that they kept onto the path right to the spot circled. The spot was very very deep into the forest, further than the portal to Termina was. It was deeper than any elf had ever traveled in.

"How long do you think it will be before we reach the sapphire?" asked Zelda, slashing a branch out of her face with her sword.

"At the pace we're going, around four hours. We ought to move a bit faster. Majora is probably far ahead of us, even if he doesn't know exactly where to find it."

They wearily agreed, and began walking faster, getting dirtier, but for a good cause.

For hours, they walked, not talking much, and getting very bored. Malon wanted to continue training with her dagger, but she knew that it was more important to get to their destination first, so she kept to herself, satisfying her taste by chopping away overhanging branches. Darunia rolled slowly, so he would keep pace with them. He didn't like walking very much, and seeing as how they were going to be walking for a while, he rolled instead. He said nothing, but his thoughts were of battles, and the action he missed. Two days ago, he and Link had met a pack of moblins, and he had greatly enjoyed battle after being bored for so long in Hyrule. Even if this hunt was much more serious than just battles, he was anxious to be back in the fray. Link's mind was no longer focused on Zelda or anything else except the path, and Majora. He frequently checked the map, making absolutely sure they were going perfectly toward the sapphire, and when he saw the affirmative, his mind wandered over to Majora. How the hell had he been revived? The one time Link had seen him, he had only been a mask, but now, he was nearly back to his body. It would be total disaster if that were to happen. He couldn't let it. Zelda, though she was trying to be as serious as possible, kept glancing over at Link. No matter now many times she tried to put him out of her mind, she always was thinking about him. She wanted to lean over and hug him again, but she knew that if she did, it would only slow them down. The more she thought of what they were up against, the more she wanted to just be held by Link. But she had to keep focused on the more serious matter. Still....her mind wouldn't rest from Link until she knew for sure if he didn't feel the same way.

Finally, after hours of walking in silence with only their innermost thoughts to keep them moving, Link shouted "we're almost there! It's just up ahead!"

They all tensed up, drawing out their weapons, Darunia included. He hadn't used his weapons yet, but if now was the time, he was going to be ready.

Up ahead, they saw a break in the trees, and got prepared for anything. Many ideas raced through their brains. What would they find? Would the sapphire be just sitting there on the ground? Would it be floating? Would it be protected by someone?

They had no more time to think, for they reached the break in the trees, and passed through it.

What they saw made their breath catch in their throats.

Towering above them, possibly higher than the clouds itself, was a green temple, with many spires and towers reaching out toward the heavens. It was humongous, around 90 feet across. They were ant sized compared to it!

Down in the center eye level with them, was the entrance, two small wooden doors.

In front of them, stood a man. He had purple hair, was a little taller than Link, and looked to be a little younger. He had a long elegant sword hung across his back, and his eyes were gray. He wore a gray suit, buttoned all the way up to his chin. His black belt held three throwing knives. He stared at them. They were only 20 feet away.

And then he spoke.

"Hello, Hero of Time. Also, greetings to you princess, Malon, and Darunia."

They were silent, staring at him, puzzled.

"I am Saja, guardian of the sapphires, and I have been waiting for you to arrive."


	6. The Black Leaf Temple

Chapter Six: The Black Leaf Temple

Saja took a step toward them, and all four of them tightened their grips on the handles of their weapons.

"It's okay," the stranger said gently, "I am not your enemy. I'm trying to stop Majora too."

Link, who had been holding his sword up, lowered it. "How do you know who Majora is?" he inquired, incredulously.

"I told you," Saja said with a small smile, "I am the guardian of the sapphires. I have been guarding them for years. Since I am in this profession, I know many things. Including each of your names and details from your life."

Saja didn't seem to be an enemy, but they weren't ready to trust him just yet. Darunia kept his axes raised, ready for anything.

"Where are we?" questioned Zelda, gesturing up at the monstrous structure behind Saja. The entire temple had weeds running along it, like the Forest Temple. It was sort of green tinged, and was made of some kind of brick they had never seen before.

"This is The Black Leaf Temple," was Saja's answer, not taking his eyes off of the group. "It is where one of the three sacred sapphires is located."

"YES!" exclaimed Darunia, grinning broadly. They had found the first sapphire. They were one step ahead of Majora. For some reason, Saja chuckled at this.

"What's funny?" Link asked.

Saja looked calculatingly at Link, as though taking in how smart he was, and said "In all my years, I have never seen someone enter that temple besides me and come out alive."

Darunia immediately stopped smiling, and he did the signature goron groan very loudly.

"We don't care," said Zelda immediately, "we must get the sapphire before Majora does. Please, you must understand!"

"I understand more than any one of you do, except for maybe Link." answered Saja quietly. "I know Majora as well as he, and I know that if he is to get his hand on them, then it will mean destruction of everything. Did you think I would deny you entrance?"

"We don't know what to think anymore," blurted Darunia, who seemed to be annoyed now that things weren't going nicely anymore.

Malon remained quiet, not speaking to anyone. She was watching Saja intently. He was very handsome...she took in his purple hair and deep gray eyes with interest.

"I will assist you in any way that I can in this fight," Saja said, and walked right up to Link, extending a hand. Link hesitated, staring down at the hand, unsure of whether or not he should believe him. But then, he decided that even if he was a traitor, they needed all the help they could get in this fight. He shook it. The sapphire guardian smiled, then turned, and strode toward the entrance of the temple with clean easy strides. Malon noticed he was perfectly balanced on his feet.

"Let's go," called Saja, gesturing for them to follow. The four looked at each other.

"May the gods help us out of there alive," breathed Link gently to all of them. He walked after Saja. Zelda stood still for a second, then hurried after Link, turning into Sheik at the same time. Malon ran after also, followed by Darunia, not wanting to be left behind.

They stopped at the small wooden doors to the temple, and looked up. The temple was so impossibly high and large that no matter how far back they craned their heads, the top was not visible.

"Be forewarned," said Saja, putting his hand on the doorknob and staring back at the team, "I have never been through the entire temple, only the main room that we are about to enter. You should also know that this temple is infested with protective demons put there by the godesses."

"The godesses?" Link replied, puzzled. "You mean Din, Nayru, and Farore? They wouldn't do deals with demons!"

"Correct, Hero of Time. The three godesses did create the sapphires. They thought of them as help to a needy person, not expecting anybody ever to find them."

"But, the moblins found out about them," finished Link with regret.

"Also correct. The godesses found out that the moblins had found the inscription describing the sapphires powers in a far distant land that not even you, Link, have been to. They then decided it was necessary to scatter them in hiding around Hyrule. They were sure that nobody would ever find them. But they also knew of Majora, and of his incredible power. If he ever was to learn from the moblins what the sapphires were, he would stop at nothing to find them," he continued. "And they were sure that he would. They alone could do nothing to stop him, so they thought it also necessary to guard the sapphires, as much as it grieved them to do so with demons. They did so, but know that is not nearly enough to stop Majora. It is a small barrier he can breach easily."

"But so can we!" Sheik said loudly. "Let's go and fight our way through these filthy beasts."

Saja smiled slightly at her determination, and opened the door to the temple.

They walked inside, and came out into a i huge /i room. The bulk of the room was a tremendous floor covered by red carpet that was dotted with leaves and vines. Torches gleamed on the walls. The walls reached all the way up into the darkness and out of sight. A door was on the other side of the monstrous room. The door was at the top of a flight of stone stairs. The entrance they were in front of was also at the top of some stairs. The entire place was fifty yards across and similarly wide, and it was all very dark, save the flickering torches on the walls.

Link, who was in front of the group with Saja, reached over on the wall and grabbed a torch out of it's bracket. Holding it in front of him, it made the vision slightly better.

"So, do we go?" asked Link to Saja. He nodded the affirmative, and they proceeded down the steps, Link holding the torch out in front of him as far as he could. They reached the bottom of the steps, and when Link's boot touched the floor, he was surprised to feel ground under the red carper, not floor. This temple was earthy.

The torch cast long, flickering shadows across the floor in front of them, as though shadows just beyond reach were trying to reach out and touch them. They began the journey to the far side of the room, across the huge open area. The blackness surrounding them gave Link a terrible feeling of openness. They had no cover at all if they were to be attacked here. Therefore, his head kept flicking from side to side, making sure that there were no demons about to attack. Although it didn't matter, for they could only see about ten feet in either direction before it faded into darkness. Link held the torch in his right hand, which also had his shield lashed to it. In his other hand he brandished his sword, keeping it ready for anything. Behind him, Saja had both hands on his long slender blade. When the mysterious elf wasn't keeping his attention fixed on their surroundings, he traced with his finger the inscription carved near the base of the blade. It was his homeland language, and the only connection he still had with it. Everything else was lost in his memory, which was why he kept the sword close at all times. Darunia was at the very back, and he did not like the temple one bit. The darkness irritated and scared him at the same time. His twin axes glinted in the light from Link's torch. The Fire Sage's black eyes swept around, taking in everything he could. He did not want to be caught off guard.

The team reached the middle of the room, still keeping a steady pace. It was now pitch black all around them, and the only thing guiding them now was the dim torch light. Link looked up at the torch, and saw the light flickering. He hoped against hope that it didn't go out, or they could get lost and attacked.

But the torch was gradually dimming. Sheik looked at it wearily.

And that's when they heard it.

A wavering sound faded to life around them. Link held up his blade, ready. They all halted, looking around. The torch dimmed further, only giving them enough light to see to their feet.

The sound got louder and louder. It was a wind, but it was blowing harder than normal wind, and it was pulsating. Link remembered the sound vaguely. But where had he heard it before? He growled, swiping his blade at the blackness in front of him.

A screech echoed around the huge room. A burst of blood mist erupted from where Link had struck, and a lantern lit up, closely followed by many others. Nearly twenty lanterns lit up all around them, encircling them. Malon's heart thumped with pent up tension. What was this new devilry? Darunia bared his teeth. Sheik held her sword up at the ready, holding four long needles in her other hand. Link immediately realized what the lanterns were at the same time that Saja did.

"POE'S!" they shouted together.

Gaunt faces appeared at the top of the lanterns, blank eyes and sharp teeth. Ragged graying clothing hung from the destroyed bodies of the ghosts. They spun their lanterns, cackling wickedly. Link dove forward, swiping at the same Poe he had impaled a second before. He slashed it through the heart, and the Poe disappeared, the lantern dropping to the floor, shattering, and going out.

When this happened, all five immediately jumped into action. Sheik dove forward, slid under the Poe facing her, leapt up behind it, reached under its arm and around its neck, and using both hands, snapped it's head clean off it's shoulders. She ran for another, hurtling her needles. Malon slashed a Poe lantern, and it broke apart. The Poe screeched and flew toward her. She ducked, and it soared over her head, screaming in rage. She stood up and flung her dagger into the Poe's back.. The evil ghost screeched yet again, and disappeared, the dagger falling to the floor with a clang. Malon dove to her dagger, and picked it up, attacking another one. Darunia was vicious with his axes. He cut one Poe clean in half with one axe, shooting dark blood everywhere. Some got in his eyes, and he screamed in pain, trying to wipe the sticky liquid out. A Poe to his left took the opportunity to smash the lantern across the goron's back. Cuts appeared on his skin, and blood ran down his back. He yelled in pain again. He opened his eyes, blood running down his cheeks, and swung his other axe horizontally. The Poe's two halves disintegrated, and the shattered lantern dropped from it's nerveless fingers. Saja and Link battled alongside each other, taking out several Poe's at a time. Link smashed his shield hard into one's face, sending it flying back. It hit the floor, and the lantern incredibly didn't break. Link drew out his bow, notched an arrow and let it fly right into the Poe's forehead. The lantern went out, and the group was engulfed in darkness once more.

A glittering ball of fire came to life, and Link, Darunia, Saja and Malon all turned to see Sheik, covered in Poe blood, holding the ball in her hand. It was the same fire Link had used in the Dead Fortress.

"Nice work, everyone," she commented quietly, looking around at the broken lanterns and glass that littered the red carpet beneath their feet.

"You fought spectacularly!" exclaimed Saja to Link.

"So did you! That was incredible!" he replied, his adrenalin still shooting through him. "Where did you learn to fight?"

"My own land," he said gently, lowering his head to look at his feet. He did not want to go into his past. Link respected this, and did not press him with answers. Instead, he walked over to Sheik, who turned back into Zelda.

"I wasn't able to see you fight," he said, "but I am sure you did perfect."

She blushed, and thanked him.

"So, how did you enjoy a little action?" he said with a grin. Zelda looked up at him with a twinkle of amusement in her eyes.

"Loved it," she said sarcastically. "This temple seems pretty lethal. I'm sure we'll be encountering much worse demons before we get to the sapphire."

"No doubt," he agreed. Without really knowing why, Zelda wrapped her arms around Link and lay her head against his chest. She was tired.

Link hugged her back, and they looked at the others. Darunia was wiping the blood off of his axes on the carpet, and Malon was speaking with Saja.

"Where is the sapphire?" asked Malon to him.

"The bottommost floor," was his answer. "I'm not sure how to get there, for I have only glimpsed the sapphire a few select times, and that was before it was put in here. I am sure with your help that we can get there, though."

Malon looked at him. His gray eyes stared back into hers. They did not speak any further, both unsure of what to say. She examined his purple hair, and, to her own surprise, she found it very attractive how it was separated. He was tall, too. About as tall as Link, maybe a bit shorter.

As Saja looked down at her, his thoughts, for the first time since leaving his land, changed from serious matters. For the first time, he saw a beautiful woman. i She's attractive, /i he thought. Her blood red hair was sleek and shiny, and he found it very attractive. He had not ever thought about this. His entire life had been spent in misery and war, but even with all of the turmoil around them, and possibly the greatest threat to elfkind, he was able to see past the battle for once, and look at the ranch girl's beauty.

"Hey," grunted Darunia, "shouldn't we get moving?"

"Yes," agreed Saja, his eyes snapping away from Malon. She too broke out of the trance, and took her dagger back out. Link and Zelda released each other, and Zelda turned back into Sheik. The team started once more across the first room of the Black Leaf Temple.

The rest of the walk was spent in silence, each of them with their own thoughts as it had been for the trip to the temple in the forest. It seemed like an eternity to them, the solid thumping of their feet against the carpet, the darkness pressing in around them. But eventually they reached the opposite wall, and ascended the stairs. When they got to the top, they stopped before the door.

"Saja," breathed Link. Saja looked over at him. "Have you been in the next room?"

"Yes, but beyond that, no." he answered.

"What's in the next room?" the elf asked. Saja considered him.

"The last time I was in there was two years ago. Back then it was just a maze of ledges. If you fall off one of the ledges, there's no telling how far down it goes. It's not as large as this room, but I am sure that there will be more enemies in that room."

"Right then," Link said, turning to the other three. "Everyone, be careful, try not to fall. We'll have to battle our way across. Ready?"

They all nodded, gripping their weapon handles tighter, tensing up, ready for whatever was thrown at them next.

Link stared at Sheik for a second, then turned and kicked the door open.

Dust flew from the frame when he did this. He strode purposefully through it, followed closely by the rest.

The room was not as large as the previous one, as Saja had said, but it looked all the more dangerous.

The room had no floor. Instead it was just stone pathways linking together. The pathways were very thin, only wide enough to plant your feet shoulder width apart on. If you were to fall off one of these, you would be lost in the blackness below. The echoing sounds made them certain that it was a very long way down. On the other side of the room was a door, but it wasn't going to be easy getting there. And the door had bars over it.

"No monsters here," commented Saja, looking around. "That's good news, at the very least."

Link grunted, not convinced. He had been through too many temples like this one to rest assured on sight alone.

In this he was wise, for a second after Link grunted, on either side of the room on the thin ledges, rows of Iron Knuckles, Stalfos, and Lizalfos appeared. They stared with gleaming red eyes in the unnatural darkness, tracing the air with their sword points in small circles.

The team stood still, unsure of whether to attack or wait for them to attack.

"Split up!" shouted Sheik. She pushed past Link, and ran along the ledges, toward the enemies. Link sprinted after her. Saja took the left side, with Malon, and Darunia went with Link and Sheik.

The two separate rows of demons charged along the ledges too. Sheik was first to collide with the forces. She slammed an Iron Knuckle to the side, knocking it off the ledge. Right away after that she hurtled two of her needles all the way through a lizalfos head. A second later, she called the needle back to her, and fought on. Link reached the evil tide at the same time that Saja and Malon did. The battle quickly spread out across the ledges. Link punched a Stalfos in the forehead, breaking the skull apart. He bruised his knuckles, but barely noticed it. He ran after an Iron Knuckle and was separated from Sheik. Four other demons followed Link. Saja's sword found it's first victim, and the Knuckle fell beneath the flurry of slashes from the ancient sword. Blood poured from it's injured body as it hit the ground. Saja kicked it off the ledge, and it soared downward, howling, out of sight. Malon was dodging the jump attacks of a Stalfos a few ledges away from him. The Stalfos charged and swung. She dodged to the side and kicked it in the back. It roared, and did another jump attack. Malon ducked, and the Stalfos flew over her, and right off the ledge. i stupid brute, /i she thought savagely, running off towards a lone Lizalfos. Link, who had just cut off the hand of an Iron Knuckle, pushed it aside and saw Darunia being overwhelmed by 5 different enemies. Taking action, Link notched an arrow with lightning fast reflexes and released it. The arrow flew straight and true, hitting it's target, a Lizalfos forehead. The beast toppled to the surface of the ledge. Without that distraction, Darunia took control and easily tore through the rest of the monsters. He made an ambitious jump from one ledge to the other, landing in between two Iron Knuckles. He used his tremendous fists and smashed the first one off the ledge. When the other one turned around, he clobbed it in the face with his axe. It didn't get cut, but the force of the blow dazed it, and he cut it's unarmored leg off while it was distracted. Link, who was watching Darunia's progress, was unaware of a Stalfos approaching him from behind. It raised it's sword and was about to cleave his head in two, when Sheik yelled "LINK! BEHIND YOU!" Link brought his elbow up hard and smashed the head right off the demon. He whirled around and saw two Knuckles charging him. He got into his fighters stance, bracing himself for impact. Saja snapped a Lizalfos neck on the far side of the room, and turned to see Link get slammed by the two Knuckles. He was bowled completely over, and tumbled nearly off the ledge, catching onto the side by one hand. Luckily he still managed to hold onto his sword and shield. He dangled there, helpless, unable to fight. The Knuckle closest to him swung it's monster sword down to his fingers that were clutching desperately to the side of the ledge, when a blade sprouted from his chest. The Knuckle cried out in pain. It was swung off the ledge by the blade, and in it's place, stood Sheik. She had already disemboweled the other Knuckle.

"Thank you," Link gasped, as she pulled him back up onto the ledge. They looked around, and saw the final monster get stabbed through the eye by Malon's dagger. The Lizalfos fell down, blood spurting from the wound.

The team was now scattered across the entire room. By now, they were very dirty, and tired, and it was only the second room in the temple.

"Again, very nice everyone." said Sheik. She sheathed her sword and put away her needles in her belt. Darunia nodded his agreement. His breathing was hoarse. Saja and Malon made their way over to Sheik and Link. Darunia took a second, but he eventually got up and hurried over too.

"How is everyone? Got all your limbs still attached?" snorted Link.

"Think so, although it feels like my left arm's gonna fall off," commented Malon dryly, rubbing her shoulder. It was the same one she had held her dagger with.

"This dungeon is fucking crazy!" shouted Darunia into the silence that followed. "This is only the second room we've been in and we're tired out of our minds. Or, at least, I am."

"Oh no, I am too," replied Saja. Malon, Sheik and Link murmured the affirmative also. The group stood there, all recovering from the vicious battle. i This truly is a nasty temple, /i 

thought Link. i Worse than any I have been in, so far. /I .

"We have to be moving on," whispered Saja.

"What?!" Darunia complained, "we need a bit of rest! Come on!"

"Do not pamper me with your excuses, Goron!" said Saja icily. "We have no time to rest up. Majora is undoubtably near the temple already. If he gets in here before we reach the bottom level, we lose the first sapphire."

The effects of the words sunk in, and nobody made any more objections. They walked along the maxes of ledges until they reached the door.

The door had bars over it.

"Now just what the hell do we do here?" Malon asked. But Link held up a hand, his eyes closed. It had been a very long time, but he remembered facing this exact same situation.....

i He hurried into a small room. There was nothing special about the room, only the door he came through, and another door to his right, barred. There was a Deku Baba in the corner, which he cut through easily. His small Kokiri Sword now dripped with green blood, but he did not care. He was looking for a way out of the room. What did he do to get the bars off the door?

That's when he spotted the golden eye above the barred door. It was on a crest, and it was shut. An idea came to him. He took out his slingshot, strung a nut, and released it. The nut flew quickly, and hit the eye square in the center. The eye popped open, and the bars lifted from the door, allowing him to proceed to the next room in the ancient tree. He was one step closer to breaking the curse. /I .

His eyes snapped open again. Without speaking of his intentions, he looked around the room, along the walls. It soon met his eye. The golden eye with the crest. The eye was closed, and it was above the door they had come through. He drew out his bow, notched an arrow, took aim, and fired. The arrow hit the eye dead center of the lid. The mysterious eye popped open, and the bars for the door lifted, leaving the path to the next room clear.

"Incredible," said Saja quietly. "You've never even been in this temple before and already you know how to get through it more than I do."

Link grinned. "I've had much experience."

He reached for the door handle, and opened it up. The group filed inside.

They were in a brightly lit room very unlike all the previous ones. It was a very big room, a little bigger than their last one. The floor was solid again, thank god. Vines were roped around the black bricks on the floor as were the walls. Though this was no surprise. There was a door on the other side of the room, and it had a keyhole in the handle, but no key that they could see.

The room was completely empty.

Link looked around, unsure. There was something familiar about the smell in the air. Something he had smelt a long time ago...like swamp water...

A huge black spider bigger than Link himself dropped down in front of them all. It landed with a huge thud that reverberated around the room and shook the floor. The spider eyed them hungrily with 7 beady red eyes. Upon the spiders back with a sword in it's fingers, was an enemy Link had fought twice before. He thought he had vanquished it for good. But, obviously not...for he was back.

It was Mr. Frog from the Woodfall Temple back in Termina. He had been hired to guard the sapphire.

"You!" hissed the Hero of Time.

"Me!" grinned the crazed frog. It hopped up and down on the hairy back of the monstrous spider. "Hahaa! No way you'll beat me this time! No way! I have way too big of an advantage here! You're i DEAD! /I And so are your little friends here!"

Subtlety was never one of Mr. Frog's strong points. Without any pause for consideration, he jabbed the spider in the sides and screamed "EEEYAAAAH!!!!"

The demon charged, a psychotic look in it's eyes.

All five of them dove in different directions, and the spider skidded to a halt in front of the door. It whipped around, and Mr. Frog spotted Link on his back. "HIM!" he screeched. "I WANT i HIM! /I "

The spider jumped high into the air, and landed down in front of Link. He tried to scramble away but the spider dug one of it's legs into his tunic. It snagged, and tore loudly as Link jerked away. He jumped to his feet and slashed at Mr. Frog on his mount. The crazy frog blocked the blow with his own sword, and jabbed back at his forehead. Link caught the blow on his shield, and was about to strike again, when the spider tried to bite him. Link brought his shield down hard as he could muster onto it's skull. The spider screeched like Mr. Frog, and tottered on it's feet, swaying dangerously. But it shook it off and tried to strike again, but Link was gone. Mr. Frog howled in anger and whirled around, searching for him. But the spider instead spotted Saja and Darunia together. It shot toward them, firing string from it's forehead at the same time. Darunia sliced the string with his axes before it could tie them up, and it fell in front of them in useless tatters. The spider reached them and seized Saja roughly around the middle, lifting him up toward it's hungry, dripping mouth. An arrow struck it in the back, and it screamed again, dropping him. It spun around, but left it's guard open. Darunia slammed his fist into the back of the arrow shaft, slamming it deeper into the spider. It bellowed yet again, and scampered away, up the wall and onto the ceiling. Mr. Frog was now very pissed. "Get them!" he hollered at the creature, but it was busy clawing at the arrow. Everyone stared up at them, prepared to run if need be. The spider continued to scrabble at the arrow. Streams of blood dripped down from it and splattered on the floor in dark puddles. Mr. Frog slammed it on the head, angry at it for not doing what it was told. It was too much for the spider, and it dropped from the ceiling. Mr. Frog howled in fright, and leapt off his mount. He landed on the ground at the same time the spider did. When it hit the ground, it made a sickening crack sound, and they knew that it had broken it's back. It writhed jerkily in place, and then was still.

Mr. Frog turned to see Sheik and Malon standing there, weapons raised.

"YAAAAAH!!" he screamed, jumping at them. He stabbed at Malon, who dodged the blow and struck him across the back with her dagger, causing a line of blood to break open the thin, translucent skin. He tottered, swaying. His bulging red eyes swam, and he spat up blood.

There was a soft whisper, and a i thunk /I . Saja had hurtled his blade straight into Mr. Frog's head. The crazed amphibian stood there for a second, a single drop of blood falling from the sword. His eyes wandered up to the blade protruding from between his eyes, and saw most of his brain along it.

He groaned, and sank to the floor, face first. He lay there, unmoving.

Saja stumbled over to the body. He was slightly shaken from being grabbed by the spider. He put his foot on the skull of Mr. Frog's body, and yanked his blade out, wiping the scarlet blood on the floor.

"Well that was....interesting," Sheik said.

"An insane frog, Poe's, and eyes on the wall," said Link. "It's like the past all over again."

The team fell silent for a few seconds, staring around at the dark walls. Link's eyes fell on the dead frog, and he walked over it, not knowing why. He put his foot on the frog and rolled it over. His eyes widened as he looked at it's brightly colored stomach.

"SAJA!" he yelled. Saja ran over to him, and together they looked down at the frog's stomach.

"Is that what I think it is?" Link whispered to him.

"I believe it is," replied Saja. He stabbed the frog through the stomach and ripped through the thin skin. The key shaped bulge in his stomach was still there as he did this. He ripped all the way down, peeled the skin to the side, and they saw amidst all the blood and organs, the key to the next room.

"What the hell was he thinking when he was eating this?" groaned Link in disgust, taking the bloody key from the frog. He and Saja walked away from the dead frog toward the door, with the rest of the team following them. Sheik was getting slightly dizzy from how fast things were happening. Link unlocked the door, and slammed it open.

They stood at the foot of a flight of stairs. Fifty feet up, the stairs curved all the way around, and went the other way, going further up. The stairs were so high up that they disappeared in the gloom. Link guessed that these were the main stairs of the temple. They had to go up these to go down to the basement level. Vines were roped around the stairs and walls. Somehow, these seemed very much more denser than all the other vines they had seem so far. They were darker green, thicker, and looked stronger.

"Let's go," ordered Saja. He began to ascend the stairs. Link and the rest of the team walked behind him.

It was desperately dull and tiring. The stairs were huge, long, and seemed to go on forever. Link tried to concentrate on his boots stepping over the thick spiny vines on the stairs. But even he was getting tired. Everyone else was, too. Sheik remained Sheik, not wanting to go up the steps in Zelda's dress. Malon behind her, was luckily wearing black pants instead of her dress, although she was still extremely exhausted by the stairs too. Behind her, Darunia was groaning loudly at steady intervals.

They rounded the fifth curve in the stairs, and pushed themselves to keep walking. Looking up, Link saw no end to the stairs.

They began to keep walking. They were all sweaty now, and in bad tempers. Link gazed at the surrounding walls hanging with vines.

As though they were waiting for Link to watch them, one of the vines twitched. Link stared, and stopped walking.

Saja looked back and saw everyone halted. They were all wondering what Link was looking at. Saja walked back down to the Hero of Time and said "what is it?"

Link shook his head and stared hard at the place he had seen move, unsure if what he had seen was just an illusion.

He got his clarification a second later when several vines shot from the surrounding walls, wrapped around his legs and pulled him over. He nearly slammed his head onto the stone steps which would have knocked him cold. The vines began dragging him off the steps. Saja whipped out his Katana that was strapped around his waste and cut two of the vines off. Sheik and Malon did the same to the rest.

The severed trunks whipped around like snakes without food. Hissing erupted from the walls around them, and thousands of vines shot toward them, some coming up from the floor.

"RUN!!" shouted Link, jumping up and dashing up the stairs. Everyone drew out their weapons. Link, his sword and shield, Saja, his Katana and ancient sword, Sheik, her sword, Malon her dagger, and Darunia his axes. The vines groped at them, making the way to the top of the stairs hard to see. The team hacked at the surrounding vines, cutting many off in the process. Link did a spin attack, leaving a temporary path to the top of the steps clear. He ran along the stairs with the others sprinting behind him, but soon enough hundreds more surrounded them. Saja released a magic ball of fire from his palm into their midst, burning some of them to a crisp, but twenty more took the place of those. Link fired Din's Fire into the fray tearing through them. They all ran as hard as they could up the stairs, and they were actually able to push their way through a few flights before they were overcome again. Link cut five vines out of his way and looked up through the dense layers of deadly vines. i he could see the door at the top! /I 

He was about to scream this to Saja, when three vines wrapped themselves around his ankles and yanked him off the stairs. He was flung downward, falling rapidly out of sight, screaming. Sheik immediately leapt into action, seized a severed vine from the stairs, and, hoping it was long enough, chucked it down toward the form of Link sailing downward. The vine reached him before he fell down too far, and he grabbed onto it. As his body weight slammed down onto his arms, he felt he might have yanked one arm right out of his socket. He yelled in pain, but clung on, unwilling to give up. He grimly pulled himself up, miraculously still holding his sword and shield as Sheik pulled him up at the same time. The team held the surrounding vines off as she did this. Within a minute, Link was pulling himself back onto the stairs. He rolled onto the firmness of the stone, panting heavily. He was exhausted. He forced himself back up, and they battled their way to the top of the stairs, and to the door in the wall.

Link desperately slammed his shoulder against it, and it splintered, and came crashing down without a fight. The team ran inside and the vines immediately ceased their efforts to kill them.

They turned around to see what they were to face next.

They were in a very large room. They stood on one of many ledges around the room, some of them high on the wall, some of them low on the wall. Each of these ledges had valves, each a different color. The ledges were connected by climbable vines. On the far side of the room there was a huge stone door. The majority of the room was below them, and it was filled with water.

The water cast long shadows on the wall, pulsating. Saja gazed around at the shadows. They were definitely not normal movements. He had a bad feeling about this room...it didn't seem right.

"Okay everyone, get to separate ledges," ordered Saja. "Maybe if we turn them all, that door will open before we meet anything in h–"

Six clear tentacles shot out of the water below them and flew at them. They all ducked, and the sticky blue tentacles slapped against the wall. Link shot his sword up and cut one in half. The tentacles writhed, and flew back into the water, splashing them all.

"SEPARATE!!" yelled Sheik. She jumped onto a row of vines and began climbing up toward a ledge near the ceiling. Malon climbed downward, Saja moved to the left and upward to a ledge, and Darunia went for the ledge directly above them. Link stood on the platform, alone. He spotted a row of vines to his left, and jumped on them. He climbed swiftly across them, and reached another ledge. He touched the ledge surface, and reached toward the blue valve. At that moment, two tentacles shot out from the water, shooting water everywhere. Link turned toward them, and out of the corner of his eye saw similar things happening to everyone around the room. One wrapped around the wrist holding his sword. He struggled with it, then twisted his body around so he had the tentacle in an iron grip. He pulled his blade around and cut the tentacle, spraying him with green blood. He spat a glob out and watched the severed trunk fly back into the water. He kicked the other tentacle away, and reached for the valve. When he tried to turn it, he found it was harder than he had expected. He twisted and pulled with all of his might, swearing violently when it defied his efforts, but eventually, with a great screeching, grinding noise, the valve turned, and he heard a peculiar noise sound from the far stone door. One down, still more to go. Saja turned his valve, and turned around to see five tentacles groping at his ankles. He swung out his Katana and severed three of them. He could have sworn he heard an underwater screech when this happened. The other two whacked him in the side. He flew off the ledge, but luckily landed on one not far below, next to Malon. She looked down and gasped. Abandoning her attempt to turn the pink valve and helped the stunned Saja to his feet. He thanked her, and leapt toward another ledge to their right, below the one he had just been on. Malon turned back to the pink valve and turned it with difficulty. Again, the same sound resounded from the stone door. Everyone around the room looked at the door, and they saw it slide open an inch.

"FASTER!" screamed Sheik, turning a red valve. She jumped onto the vines after she did this to avoid another wave of tentacles. Darunia, who was soaking wet like everyone else, easily turned a black valve. He climbed a few vines upward, and turned another one. i This is easy work, /I he thought with a smile. His thinking was interrupted when a tentacle flew out and tried to hit him. He slammed a foot down on the tentacle, pinning it to the surface of the ledge, and smacked an axe into it. Green blood pooled beneath it, and an even louder screech from underwater resounded. Link, who was opposite Darunia, looked down from his ledge. The water beneath them was bubbling and frothing loudly. He gazed at it, hoping against hope that the thing he thought was going to happen wouldn't happen...

But, of course, it did.

A huge, disgusting monster face erupted from the water. This was the source of all the tentacles. It pulled its way out of the water, seized Link around the waist, and began to sink back underwater.

"LINK!" shrieked Malon, who was far away from him. Sheik yelled in fright, seeing his dilemma. Link, never losing his cool in the heat of battle, sank his blade into the tentacle holding him. The tentacle dropped, but when it released him, gravity took over, and Link plunged headfirst, into the cold, icy, not to mention dangerous water.

Link looked around through the unusually opaque water, and saw the demon monster swimming toward him very quickly. Link's face twisted in a snarl, and he kicked upward, shooting up just in time as the monster passed underneath him. As it soared past, Link descended quickly. He kicked toward the back of the monster and stuck his blade into the monster. An even louder screech punctuated the water. Link yanked the blade out with difficulty, and kicked to the surface. He broke to the top, and shook his head, spraying water everywhere.

He looked around, and saw the others leaping from ledge to ledge, toward the now open stone door. He yelled for them so they knew he was still there, and swam as fast as he could toward the giant door. His arms and legs pumped hard. It was intensely hard to swim with a sword and shield in your hands. He slammed his fists down, swimming as fast as he could. Behind him, the monster was regrouping.

"LINK, HURRY!!!!" screamed Saja. They had reached the door near the water surface. Link was near there too, but the sea monster was now shooting toward him.

"JUMP!" bellowed Link to the others. The door that they had finally opened only showed darkness. Nothing else. Nevertheless, they agreed, and jumped into the doorway, disappearing into the darkness. Link reached the door, swung up and over it, and jumped through the doorway just as the sea monster reached the side. A single tentacle reached out for him, but missed. Link sailed downward for a second, then landed in the dark on a cold, flat surface.

He quickly lit up a ball of fire, illuminating his surroundings.

The team were laying on the ground, looking up at him. Link sighed with relief. "Good," he said, "you all made it. Now where are we?"

They got to their feet, and surveyed everything.

They were at the top of a huge, ten foot wide slide that disappeared down into the darkness. It was metal, shiny in the light of the flame, and looked very dangerous.

And to add insult to injury, it was wet.

They sighed, looking at each other gloomily.

"I suppose we have to go down there," grunted Darunia grudgingly. Link nodded in response, and he heard a collective sigh of disgust all around him. He smiled slightly. Nobody else there had been through disgusting and freakish temples like he had. He was used to this...they weren't. For some reason it was funny to him, though he made no comment on it as he wordlessly strode over to the slide.

"Be careful, this looks slippery, especially since we're all already wet," he muttered to them. They nodded, and walked over to the top of the slide too. Link sat down, said "best of luck," and pushed himself over.

It was incredible...nothing Link had ever experienced before on his ventures. It was impossible to see any light at all on the slide...being that he was soaked from head to toe from his last encounter, he flew quickly down the slide, and whenever he felt a turn in the slide, he flew to one side, making a loud squeaking noise. He accelerated to a frightening speed. He nearly let loose a scream, wanting the crazy ride to end. This was not fun at all, being in constant terror of being flung completely off the slide. He could sense the others sliding down after him, and was reassured....at least they were there with him. He tried to light up a ball of fire to see his surroundings that were sure to be flying by in a blur, but the ride was so fast he could not get up the willpower to do so. So he just closed his eyes, and waited for the madness to end, and to get off of the slide.

Although the descent was swift, it still took nearly ten minutes for the team to reach the bottom, where there was suddenly dim light. The slide leveled out, and Link and co. slid twenty feet across the floor, coming to a stop near the high and slimy brick walls.

Everyone was so dizzy, that they did not get up for nearly five minutes. Link shut his eyes tightly and tried to make the revolving world stop. When Saja finally got the guts to push himself up to his feet, swaying slightly, he examined their surroundings.

The room they were in was tiny, and empty. It only contained the base of the slide they had just come off of, and a large door in front of them. When the rest got up, he pointed to the door, and breathed, "is that what I think it is, Hero of Time?"

Link looked up at the towering stone door, and examined a symbol inscribed on the handle. It was three leaves, circling what appeared to be a man holding a sword and carrying a very sharp looking twig...it was a minuscule drawing, but for some reason it made Link shiver just by looking at it.

"I believe it is," replied Link, stepping back next to Saja and looking up at the door.

"What? What is it?" asked Darunia, confused. Sheik had an idea.

"The...the boss?" she asked tentatively. Link and Saja both nodded and wordlessly drew out their weapons.

"Saja, do you have any idea what it is?" inquired Link. Saja shook his head. "I have never been down here before," he answered. "It's hard to believe we've made it this far without being killed."

"Well, I feel like I've been killed right now..." blurted Malon, making them smile, and nod in agreement. They all stepped up to the door, and Darunia reached toward the handle. He turned his head to fix his large beady black eyes on them all.

"Ready?" he asked.

"No," Malon said, "but let's get this over with and get the sapphire before Majora reaches us."

Darunia nodded, turned the handle, and pushed the door open.

They walked into darkness, their footsteps echoing around. Link got the feeling it was a big room for the echoes to be that long and faint. The thin strip of light from the door suddenly disappeared as the door slammed shut behind them with a jolt. They all jumped at this.

All they could see were several torches around the walls in the distance. They only lit up little parts of the wall, everything else was pitch black.

The team stood there, looking around, wondering what they should do. Should they wait, or try and get to the sapphire which they were sure to be nearby now?

That decision was quickly made up for them when a low rumble sounded around the entire room, so that it was impossible to discern where it was coming from. Link turned around, trying to hear correctly. It was impossible to see anything. He felt terribly open. Saja kept his blades outstretched, not wanting to be caught offguard by the final defense between them and the first sapphire.

Sheik was the first to realize what the rumbling was. "IT'S A GROWL!" she screamed. As if waiting for this, all the torches on the walls reared up, exploding in their brackets and illuminating the entire cavernous room that was similarly roped with vines on the wall.

Above them, hanging there like some ghastly spider waiting for it's fly dinner, hung a giant of a man, wrapped in leaves of dark green, and writhing vines like snakes. Two black eyes with slitted red pupils poked out from the covered head, glaring down at them. It held two Katana's, and had a belt with what looked like replica leaves but were really knives.

Time seemed to slow as Link looked up at the beast. His eyes widened as he saw their final enemy. He gritted his teeth, squeezed his blade handle tightly, and screamed at the top of his voice " i MOVE!!! /I "

He dove out of the way, and the others without hesitation did the same. The demon dropped from the ceiling, landing with a rumble where they had been a fraction of a second ago. The evil thing pulled out three leaf replicas and hurtled them at Sheik. She dodged two of them, but was too slow for the last one, and it slashed her across the back. The wound was both long and deep, and shot bloodmist everywhere. She screamed in pain and clutched at the bloody wound desperately. The leaf monster advanced on her, swinging it's Katana's. Saja ran to meet the beast, and swung out his blades in turn. The demon caught the blade's on his, and the pair began to duel fiercely. Saja's face twisted in concentration as he pulled out all the stops from his homeland training against this thing. It soon became clear that Saja would not win in a direct fight against the Leaf Demon, so Malon and Darunia ran up to help him. The beast somehow was able to block every single blow swung at him. Wherever this thing hailed from, it must have been well trained to be that good. While this happened, Link dashed over to injured Sheik, who was now Zelda. Her entire back was soaked in hot blood. Link placed a hand behind her head and supported her neck. "Are you alright?" he asked. She was trembling, but nodded weakly. "Can you fight?" he asked. She hesitated, then said "It will take more than a leaf knife to stop me!" and pulled her self up off the ground with help from Link. She turned back into Sheik, drew her dagger, and leapt after the rest of the team that was tearing fiercely at the boss. Link ran toward it too, and saw it backhand Saja hard in the mouth, sending him crashing to the floor. He cried out in pain, and spat blood onto the green tinged floor. Link roared in fury and released a fire arrow at the Leaf Demon. The demon tried to dodge it, but Malon and Darunia would not let it move. It was hit square in the chest with the flaming arrow. It screamed, red blood welling up from the wound. The fire quickly spread over it's body. The demon howled in agony, trying desperately to put the fire out by rolling around on the floor. The others dodged out of the way of the dying being. It howled again even louder, making them cover their ears.

Within seconds, the Leaf Demon was no more than a pile of black ashes.

The team was now so extremely exhausted that they nearly collapsed there. None of them had gotten any sleep for a very long time. Link's eyes blurred, and he staggered, trying to support himself.

He shook his head violently, forcing himself to stay awake. When his vision had cleared, he looked at the rest of them...but as he did, something hit his senses hard.

The demon presence that had surrounded the temple suddenly increased greatly. The bright torches dimmed on the walls, and they flickered, threatening to go out. Saja and Sheik both noticed this too, but only Link and Saja knew what it meant. Fear coursed suddenly through Link, and his eyes grew wide.

" i He is here, /I " breathed Link, "We must get the sapphire! i NOW! /I "

The team rushed across the room, toward the opposite and final door of the temple. Link could feel Majora flying up past the flight of stairs, the evil tentacles on the wall not daring to touch him.

Link slammed the final door open as Majora flew through the water monsters room, and reached the slide. Into complete darkness Link dashed. He immediately lit up a huge ball of fire, illuminating his ten foot surroundings. He ran through the room, his breath coming in searing gasps. Saja slammed the door shut when everyone was inside, and he put a sticking charm on the door, sealing it. Majora suddenly burst into the boss room, and saw the door slam shut.

"HERO OF TIME, HURRY!" bellowed Saja, trying to brace the door with his shoulder. Majora smashed against the door, screaming in anger. Prophecies of revenge rolled from his tongue in a wretched language only he knew as the door withheld. But nothing would stop him for long, the door would not hold forever.

Link whipped the ball around, searching desperately........and saw it.

There it sat, simple as that, glowing with an ancient blue light, on a pedestal. It was about as big as Link's fist. For some reason, Link froze when he saw it, despite the desperation of the situiation. He stared down at the ancient item. This was what they had been looking to find for so long...right in front of his face.

Majora slammed against the door with backbreaking force, and the door splintered. Saja's eyes widened. "LINK–"

Link ran forward, and seized the sapphire at the same time that Majora slammed the door off it's hinges. Saja flew off his feet, along with Malon. Sheik stood to the side, staring up at the evil shadow with fear in every line of her face.

And again, time slowed down. Majora flew faster than ever concieved toward Link who was holding the sapphire in one hand, the ball of magic fire in the other. Another force took hold of Link, and without knowing why, his arm lifted, and he aimed the sapphire at Majora's shadow.

i BANG. /I 

A huge explosion of bright blue light erupted from the magical stone, and a beam of light flew from it, slamming into Majora's stomach. The powerful force of the light shot Majora back away from Link, and clean through the temple wall. The evil being landed outside of the temple. They were on ground level, and it was twilight.

Majora lay on the ground for a second in the soft grass, then leapt to his feet. Had he had features, every line of his face would have been etched with pure hatred. The team stared at him outside, waiting for his next move.

Majora knew that he could not compete against that sapphire without one of his own. He snarled viciously.

"I WILL meet you again, Link!" he hissed in rage, almost spitting. "THE FIGHT WILL BE MINE!"

And he flew off, out of sight, into the twilight night sky, determined to destroy this world, and all others.


	7. Road to Chaos

Chapter seven: Road to Chaos

"Wake up, sunshine," called Saja, nudging Link with his foot. The hero opened up his eyes, and his vision, he discovered, was blurred from sleep. He was covered in a blanket, and lay on the forest floor looking up at Saja's face. Beyond his head, he could see the far up forest canopy that blocked the cruel morning sunshine from his face.

"You've been sleeping too long, as have you all," said Saja. He shook Darunia awake, and he sat up with his goron groan. This one was so loud that it woke Malon and Zelda up, and jerked Link out of his sleepy trance. He rubbed his eyes, clearing his vision slightly, allowing him to survey their surroundings. The events after Majora had flown off last night had passed in a haze.

They had set up camp right outside the hole the blast from the sapphire had made in the Black Leaf Temple wall. The sapphire was in Link's pack with all of their food. As everyone woke up, he threw the blanket off of him, grabbed the pack, unzipped it, and looked inside past the bread loaves and gazed at the glittering stone. It was still illuminating the inside of the pack, the mysterious light never ceasing or flickering. The power of it was past comprehending, and it gave Link a shiver just to see it. Slightly disturbed, he zipped the pack back up, got up, and slung it across his shoulders over his shield.

Zelda was wide awake now, too. She looked up at the insanely humongous structure that towered above them like some dark, crouching beast waiting for them. The cramps it had caused the entire team were amazing, and right now everyone hated the temple with a passion. Zelda groped for the large cut across her back from the Leaf Demon. It had been healed over, but was now a scar. It still ached.

"We best be off," suggested Saja. He straightened his tight blue shirt around him, and asked "once we get out of the forest, we need to get horses. Majora already has an advantage now that he figured out how to fly. We need to get to the second sapphire as fast as possible."

"That's my job," Malon said abruptly. "I have plenty horses at my ranch, and you can use any one of them. But only Link has a song to summon a horse. We need to go to the ranch before we go off for the second sapphire."

Saja's jaw tightened for a second. "We cannot afford to squander time, so we must be brief there. No stopping at all."

They all nodded, understanding the seriousness of their predicament, but Malon was slightly unhappy. Talon was undoubtably worried about her. She herself hadn't seen him for days...she hoped he was okay. At least when they went to Lon Lon Ranch she would be able to tell him where they were going.

"Off we go," Darunia said with a grunt, and the group started off, around the huge temple because they were on the back side.

It took them a few hours to circle the temple, all of it in silence mostly. They were still exhausted though they had gotten much sleep. The situation had been slightly tipped in their favor, but Majora still had a big advantage over them. This they knew, but they were determined to stop his evil intentions. They got around the temple eventually, and continued out toward the borders of the forest where they had been two days ago.

It took them near four hours to reach the borders on foot as it had when they were journeying to the temple. The lack of speed greatly bothered Saja. He could not stand thinking of how close Majora was undoubtably getting to the second sapphire. If they were to keep up this pace, Majora would find both sapphires before them.

When the group finally did get to the borders of the forest, Link couldn't help but yell with joy. He was quite sick of the forest by now, and the sunlight made him feel alive because he hadn't felt it for a while.

The open plains stretched before them. On the horizon, they saw the faint outline of Lon Lon Ranch, and Malon smiled at seeing her home again. Though they would not be spending much time there, they were going back for a bit.

For a few minutes, they rested, greatly tired by the forced march from the heart of the wood. Link was about to sit down, when, to everyone's bewilderment, Saja took off running toward Lon Lon Ranch. He ran quickly, and was fifty feet away before everyone else got up and caught up to him, running behind him. He may have been tired, but they could not afford to walk anymore. They needed the horses as quickly as possible. At this pace, the ranch quickly came into view, the towering walls surrounding it glittering in the sunlight. Malon's breath came in searing gasps, and she tried to keep up. Link, who had the pack, sword, and shield on his back, was having trouble keeping up because the extra weight not only slowed him down, but the frenzied bouncing on his back distracted him from his running. But he managed. Zelda was not wearing her dress, but a tight black jump suit zipped up to her chin. Link couldn't help but notice how the jumpsuit fit all her feminine curves. He shook his mind off of this though immediately. The hero did not want to be distracted by his feelings for her.

Saja remained in the lead, Link behind him, Zelda and Malon together side by side, and Darunia rolling by Zelda, when they reached the entrance to the ranch. Saja called back to Malon without stopping, "is this the ranch, Malon?"

"Yes!" gasped Malon, breathing raggedly. Saja turned sharply and sprinted into the ranch. The rest followed tiredly.

Inside the ranch it seemed normal enough. They stopped in between the two buildings, looking around for any traps. Malon entered, and her mouth twitched. She remembered that Ingo was dead. The ranch would be at peace once more, but she was unsure how her father would react to this news, once told.

The door to the stables swung open, and Talon lumbered out, looking tired and weary also. For a second, he only stared at the ground, then he looked up and saw the team standing in a line at the entrance to his ranch.

Nobody said a word, all wondering what to do next, but then Talon leapt forward, shouting "Malon! Oh good goddesses, your okay!" He hugged her tightly, oblivious of the stares around them. Malon hugged him back, holding back her tears. "I missed you, father," she said. When they broke apart, he finally seemed to come to reality and look around at the rest of the group. He noted how dirty and tired they looked, and especially took in Saja, who wore clothes he had never seen before.

"What are all these people doing here?" Talon asked her, questioningly. She looked to Link, who said nothing, only stood back and waited for her to answer. She turned back to her father, who was looking at her with a puzzled expression.

"Long story," she answered simply, and walked off to get horses for the group. Talon watched walking away, then turned back to the rest of the group.

"Would you mind telling me just what the hell is going on?" he demanded, his voice getting slightly hard. Saja took control immediately.

"We're on the trail of three sacred sapphires that have the power to destroy all of Hyrule. We have one of them already, and we are trying to stop the evil demon Majora from getting the second one before we do. So we stopped here to get horses so we could move faster."

A slightly stunned silence came after that short speech. Talon was wordless. It had been such a blunt answer, but it had been so much to take in in one moment. Link walked over to Talon, and said gently, "I know you don't want Malon to go with us, and I know that you're not believing much of this, but, please understand that it is all true, and that Malon is now tied into this, and she can't get out of it until it is all over. And neither can we."

Talon remained silent, just staring, transfixed at Link, unable to form any words.

Malon came back into view from the enormous horse herding area with five horses, one of them Epona.

"How did Epona get back here?" questioned Link, staring at his reddish brown horse as she snorted in welcome. "I left her up on Death Mountain!"

"She arrived here two days ago," informed Talon, who finally seemed to have come to his senses, answering the question for Link. "That is one smart horse of yours."

Link hugged her, happy to see her again after so many days. Malon got up onto a horse that was completely brown. Saja and Zelda hopped up onto similar others, but Darunia remained on the ground.

"How am I supposed to ride a horse? I will crush it with my w–"

"Taken care of," Malon cut him off. "He is the strongest horse we have ever had on this ranch, and he will be able to bear even your goron weight, Darunia. Hop on."

The fire sage made no more arguments. It took a few minutes for him to mount the large horse, and the muscular horse didn't even sag under him. It was very burly.

"We must be off now," said Saja immediately. "We have wasted too much time already."

Link mounted Epona, and Saja trotted out of the ranch. As the rest of the team began to follow, Malon turned her head back to Talon, who just stood there, staring up at her sadly.

"I will be back soon as I can, father," she breathed to him. "Do not worry for me. I know how to fight."

Talon waved her goodbye, and the ranch girl galloped off after the rest. When they were gone, he turned around, and lumbered back into the stables, deeply depressed, and confused.

Malon checked the map, and said, "the second sapphire appears to be at Gerudo Fortress..."

"The fortress?" interrupted Zelda sharply. "If it is at the fortress, how did Nabooru not know about it?"

"It could be hidden," suggested Link, who was several feet in front of them, upon Epona. They were all on horseback, on the south side of the ranch. "Perhaps it is under the fortress, or on the very top, or wherever. There are many explanations, all of which we will find out once we i get /I there. We have to go!"

They all nodded in agreement. They turned their horses toward the direction of Gerudo Valley, and galloped off.

For the rest of the day, they rode. Saja was glad to be on the move once more. He could not get Majora out of his head. Every moment they got closer to losing Hyrule. Link was indeed happy to be on Epona's back once more. She was one of his greatest and most trusted friends, and had been with him since Termina. Malon was suffering silently. She wanted desperately to go back to the ranch and just go to sleep, but her heart told her she couldn't, not until all of this had been settled. Indeed, she was wondering right now if she would ever see the ranch, or her father, ever again. This was an extremely dangerous and delicate situation they were in, and at any moment they could be sent tumbling to their deaths.

When the day finally drew to a close, they were near the valley. It was in sight, although it was too dark to keep riding. If they were attacked in the open, they would be unprepared. So they set up camp under a large tree. Saja quickly got a fire going with magic, and the group tethered the horses to the tree. They were glad to stop moving after a day of nonstop running and riding.

Link roasted a few sausages over the fire and the team ate gratefully, the delicious meat tasted perfect. Although it was not much of a meal, the ale that Link provided from the pack was soothing on their throats.

When they finally laid out their bed sheets and laid down to sleep, it was pitch black all around them. An owl hooted off in the distance. An eerie silence engulfed them.

"We need a watchman," Zelda said, sitting up. "I cannot just lay here and wait to get attacked, whether it be Majora or other fiends."

"I will take the first watch," Saja volunteered. They had no energy to say if this was wise, so they just nodded, and fell asleep.

Saja leaned back against the tree, staring around at the sleeping figures. Link's hat was beside his head, and his long blond hair fell everywhere in the grass. His eyes were closed tightly. Saja smiled slightly. The Hero of Time was exhausted. For some reason, it was a funny thought. He lay down himself, and his eyes, almost against his will, fell upon Malon.

The ranch girl's beauty in the dying flame's light was entrancing. Deeply troubled, he tried not to think anything of it, but his eyes would not leave her. Her blood red hair was covering one side of her face. Saja growled and tore his eyes away from her.

He struggled with himself, and a tear almost left his eye. His thoughts drifted to his lost love, back in his homeland. It had been a very long time, but he would remember her forever. He shut his eyes tight...and a single tear rolled down his dark skin from his eye, and fell to the ground. He opened his watery eyes, and forced himself to stop. There were more important matters to attend to at the moment.

He suddenly realized how badly his shirt stank. The sapphire guardian took the pack, opened it up, and took out the exact same shirt, but a cleaner one. He pulled his other shirt off, revealing his muscular upper body. The brown skin on his front was untouched, but on his back, thousands of scars were all over him. They roped from his left shoulder to opposite hip, and from his left hip to the opposite shoulder. Not one inch of his back was untouched. The wounds were horrific, and were still red.

As he set his old shirt on the ground, Malon opened an eye, and saw him without his shirt on. She did not want to intrude on him, and was about to pretend she was asleep again, when she suddenly saw the terrible cuts all over his back.

"Oh gods!" she exclaimed, sitting up. Saja's head whipped around, his long purple hair flying over his face as he did. His deep gray eyes fell on the ranch girl. Embarrassed, he quickly pulled his newer shirt on, and sat back against the tree.

"Saja," she whispered, getting up and walking over to him. "What in the name of Din happened to you?"

Saja avoided her eyes at all costs. He was so uncomfortable. He was reluctant to share his terrible past with anyone. That is, until a soft hand touched his cheek. He looked up, into Malon's sapphire eyes, filled with concern and compassion. Her fingers were on the wet spot where the tear had slid down his face.

"I..." Saja fell silent for a second, then finally decided it was time to let it out. "Sit down, there is much to explain."

Malon sat down obediantly, and watched him intently.

"Back in my homeland....many events took place. The land is called Cylith, and is still there today. Although, now it is merely nothing but a looted, abandoned ghost land haunted by evil creatures. Cylith is no more."

Malon said "oh...I'm so sorry, Saja."

"Don't worry about it," he answered, then continued with his story. "To put this simply...there was a war. A very long, bloody war. This war had been going on for many years before my birth. It was between my race–normal elves–and another army. It was a bastard army. A mix of evil elves, moblin's, and red stalfos. This army was commanded by Rahaja."

Saja's voice quivered when he said the name. For an unexplainable reason, the name sent a shiver down Malon's spine. Saja was silent for a second. He stared at Epona for a second, then continued as if nothing had happened.

"When I was twelve, I was trained in the art of swordsmanship, and was given this sword." he drew out his ancient blade with the language engraved on the base. "I was also given this Katana." he drew out the Katana also. "I was trained for five years straight, then was sent into my first battle. The battle was simple enough...raid a camp that Rahaja's army had made in the middle of the Garjlian Desert. This battle was won easily, and it was a hard hit for Rahaja. Nearly a quarter of his army was there.

"Afterwards, a few years passed without any major battles, except for a few small encounters. Our nation lived in the jungle, and we had a very big suspicion that Rajaha was regrouping, although we could not find his base because of course, we had no idea where it was. Cylith is a very large place."

Malon had not moved once. She was too drawn into his story.

"During these silent years, I met and wed Relina, my wife. We had a great life together, and we lived in the jungle within our nation. During these years, things were joyous. I had everything in my life...a beautiful wife, battle skills, I was a respected member of my city council, and the world was at peace....at least, for the time being."

A sinking feeling welled up within Malon's chest. i He was married. /I But although she was sad about this, there was a foreboding feeling in her stomach. Where was Relina now, if she was indeed his wife?

"But...it changed. One morning, out city awoke, and found a monstrous army on the march toward the city, across the desert. The army was enormous, taking up as far as the eye could see. As fast as possible, we summoned up our army once more, and went out to meet them.

"To put it simply, Relina insisted on fighting with me. The battle raged on for days."

Not wanting to go into description because it was too painful, Saja said, "Rahaja was in the army. He slew Relina, and fled across the desert. Enraged, I abandoned the fight and chased him. All the way across the desert, he had a small base built. When I tried to break inside, I was captured, and beaten mercilessly. That is where my scars are from."

Malon's whole body was shaking. This story was so brutal and sad...no wonder Saja didn't want to open up.

"I managed to escape my prison cell, made my way to Rahaja, and dueled him. In the end, I slew him, but upon returning to my city across the desert, I found it destroyed, pillaged, and on fire. Everyone was dead, and the army was gone. I felt so alone now...but, when I felt all hope was lost, I wandered into the desert, seeking death. The goddess Nayru found me there, near death. What she was doing in that land, I know not, but she asked me to help guard the three sacred sapphires. I had nothing to lose, so I obeyed, and she led me to this land. I have been here ever since."

When he finished his story, Malon sighed. So many depressing memories...she felt deep sympathy for him. He had lost everything...his entire world.

"You should get to sleep, Malon," said Saja gently. "We have a long day tomorrow."

Malon nodded reluctantly, and crawled back to her makeshift bed. She laid back down, and stared at Saja's eyes, gazing off into the fire, as if seeing something that wasn't there.

And with that, she fell asleep, leaving the guardian of the sapphires alone, wrestling with his thoughts.


	8. The Beginning of The End

Chapter seven: The Beginning of The End

In the morning, the group got up, and saddled their horses with haste. After putting out the smouldering ashes of the fire, they rode off toward Gerudo Valley as fast as they could.

The sky was unusually gray that day, as Link observed as they rode. Although no rain fell from the sky, and no thunder could be heard. He did not dwell on this for it was the least of their problems, but it was strange nevertheless...

Zelda, who was riding next to Link, looked over at him and saw him looking down at Epona's head, not saying a word.

"Link?" she said, nudging him as she came up alongside him. He started, and looked up at her.

"Are you okay?" the princess asked, worry coloring her voice. He gazed at her for a second, then turned his head away from her, saying quietly, "yes, I'm just worried about what we might find at the fortress."

"Oh..." Zelda whispered. In truth, she was apprehensive about it too. They had not gotten a very good lead on this one, and Majora was undoubtably already in the valley, or worse, the fortress.

Wrapped up in the roiling mass of their thoughts, they sank into silence as the hooves thudded down with an entrancing pattern. The valley loomed ever closer, and everyone tensed themselves up, ready for whatever was thrown at them next.

About a half hour later, they galloped into Gerudo Valley in a straight line, so they could cross the bridge easier. The horses whinnied steadily as they approached the rickity bridge, but Link knew it would hold their weight, Epona and he had crossed it many times before. The bridge withheld the weight, but all the horses, besides Epona, were reluctant to cross it. But they did, and galloped quickly across it so as not to prolong the expirience.

As they galloped toward the entrance to fortress grounds, Link's fears were realized when he saw the lead carpenter with a dagger through each eye, and each dagger had a small dark heart enscribed on the base of the blade.

i Majora, /I thought Link, enraged. He nudged Epona with his heels, and took off in front of the rest of them, entering the grounds with anger boiling inside him.

And then he ground Epona to a halt, looking around with wide eyes.

Hundreds of Gerudo warriors were slaughtered. They had bloody holes through their chests, and lay in pools of their own blood. One part of the fortress had been blasted to rubble, and four or five Gerudo's lay in the wreckage, blood stains on their faces and arms. The majority of the fortress was still standing, but loud noises and sounds of combat could be heard inside.

"NABOORU!" Link yelled, leaping from Epona. He sprinted across the open grounds, past the dead Gerudo women, their blank eyes seeming to follow him as he flew past. The rest of the group watched him running for a second, before taking off after him.

Link rushed into the torn apart entrance, climbing over the singed rocks. He cut himself once or twice, but hardly noticed the scratches in his frenzied attempt to get into the fortress and save Nabooru. Zelda turned into Sheik as they reached the rubble pile, and she jumped halfway up, clinging onto the huge pile. The whole team worked their way up, but Link was obviously first to the small hole inside. He slipped in through it without waiting for the others, and fell down into the dim light of Gerudo Fortress.

He was in the main room, a vast place with many doorways leading to other parts of the fortress, and some of them going straight to the cells Link had once gone to to free the carpenters. This room had been added on after Ganondorf's defeat. When Link dropped down from the little hole high up on the wall, he fell into complete chaos. Gerudo women were running everywhere with dual swords, shouting incoherently to each other. He pushed a few out of the way, looking for Nabooru, hoping she was okay.

He seized one of the running Gerudo's by the wrist, and started to ask her what was happening, but she jerked away and swung her sword at his head. He immediately drew his sword and blocked hers with a loud and carrying clash. Several Gerudo women around him turned around, swords held high, each aiming at his neck.

Link sighed. "It's me, Link, Hero of Time! I am not the enemy!"

The women lowered their swords, and immediately went back to shouting and looking for weapons. He turned to the women he was still crossing blade's with.

"Can you tell me what's going on?" he asked her kindly, releasing her wrist and sheathing his sword.

"I'd keep that out if I were you," she said warningly. "There's some sort of a demon down in the basement, and it's killing our soldiers! Could you help us–?"

But Link had already left. He was pushing his way through the crowd, making his way toward the basement door.

Sheik dropped down from the hole in the wall and into the pandemonium, followed closely by Saja, Malon, and Darunia. Sheik spotted Link's hat bobbing in and out of the rampaging Gerudo's, and rushed after it, pushing and elbowing the warriors aside as she did. Saja, who had no idea where she was going but did not have any other choice, followed her, and then went the chain, Malon followed Saja, and Darunia followed Malon.

The whole group was separated in the crowd, but they could see each other, so they followed. Link knew the fortress very well by now, and knew where the basement was. Since he had not spotted Nabooru up here, he feared that she was down in the basement being cut to pieces by Majora's swords at that very moment. If this was true, Link would personally tear Majora's liver out.

Link reached the door to the lower levels where he supposedly was, and elbowed it open with such force that it splintered and came off it's hinges, flying down the dark stairs with loud bangs. Taking no notice of this, he rushed into the darkness, lighting up a ball of fire like they had done in the Black Leaf Temple. Sheik pushed a Gerudo aside, and, ignoring her shouts of protest, she ran through the open doorway Link had just run through, and down the stairs. The Gerudo was angered furthermore when Saja pushed past her and ran down the stairs too, and started to draw out her sword as both Malon and Darunia shoved her away, but never got to them, for they were already gone down the stairs.

Link reached the bottom of the steps, holding the ball of fire. He whipped it around, searching for Majora, or Nabooru, or anyone.

He heard shouts coming from somewhere far to the right, and sprinted in that direction, as the rest of the team dashed into the dark room after him. Sheik spotted the bobbing light slowly fading away, and Link's boots thudding down on the floor, and shouted "LINK, STOP!"

The ball of fire halted, and they heard Link shout "I must find Nabooru and save her!"

"We know, we know!" gasped Sheik, running up to him, the others behind her. She stared into his panic stricken face, and grabbed his large shoulders. "But we had to catch up first," she panted. Link nodded, looking back at the rest of them.

"Well then, come on! We can't wait!" and he sprinted off again. They ran after him, trying to keep up with his running, but he was so tensed up and worried that nothing could stop him now. He ran through complete darkness, following the noise of the clashing blades. He ran into several things, and bruised his shoulders, but continued on past them, not stopping to aid his injuries.

And then, without warning, he slammed full force into a door, and stumbled backwards, dazed. Stars danced in his eyes, and he clutched his head and a hard thumping racked his senses.

Once he had gotten his composure back, he kicked the door open, and rushed inside, just as the others caught up with him.

In the dimly lit small room, there were five people alive, three Gerudo women who were doing battle with a towering dark shadow, and Nabooru who was likewise fighting Majora. Surrounding them were the decapitated, ripped apart, hewed limbs and bodies of other Gerudo warriors that had tried to face Majora's Wrath, and failed.

Link gritted his teeth in a tight snarl, and charged into the room, holding his shield out in front of him. Majora did not notice him because he was too busy with the other Gerudo's and was slammed full force with the shield, sending him all the way across the room and through the wall with a loud BANG!

The remaining Gerudo's, including Nabooru, bent over, breathing hoarsely. Link tapped Nabooru's shoulder to announce who it was who had just drove Majora back for a few select seconds.

"Link!" Nabooru shrieked. She was still breathing rather ragged, but hugged him tightly. "Thank the goddesses you're here! That thing just showed up and started killing everyone on the grounds. He was unstoppable! He blew up the entrance with magic. I have never seen anyone so powerful–"

"Nabooru!" Link yelled, as Sheik, Darunia, Malon and Saja ran inside to see the wreckage. Link turned Nabooru's head toward the hole in the wall that he had smashed Majora through. The shadow was now climbing out, and it was growling deeply, enraged.

"YOU!" it bellowed, seeing Link standing next to Nabooru. It held up it's two huge swords and yelled "I HAVE HAD ENOUGH OF YOUR INTERFERING!"

"And I don't give a damn what you think," Link snapped back. He didn't care if he was pushing it. He had to buy time so they could figure out where the sapphire was before he got to it. "I have beaten you before!"

"And I would not rely on that piece of information if I were you," the evil shadow rumbled, walking steadily closer. Some Gerudo's backed off. "You know my power far exceeds yours!"

"Oh, really?" Link said, raising his eyebrows. "Wouldn't count on it," and he pulled the sapphire they had found in the temple out of his pocket. Majora hissed, spitting like a snake. He recoiled, and backed against the wall. Link held the sapphire up, willing it to shoot the beam of light it had done two nights ago again.

Majora suddenly realized that Link did not know how to control the sapphire. He lunged, and knocked the sapphire out of his hands before he could make a move. Link, who had been holding the sapphire with the same arm that had his shield strapped to it, felt the two shadow blade's glance off his shield. However, the force of the tackle knocked him off his feet, and sent him to the floor. Majora swung the blades down to cut his face in half, but he rolled to the side, and the blades slashed the floor, shooting sparks into the dim lighting. Nabooru and the rest of the Gerudo's backed off, too stunned to try and fight the shadow. Link drove his sword upward toward the blank face, but the sword was knocked aside with ease. Link rolled aside again as both blades stabbed at his gut. They missed again and thankfully got lodged in the stone floor. However, as Link began to pull himself to his feet, Majora kicked him in the side, and sent him sliding across the floor and into the wall. He pulled himself to his feet, his aching side sending pain lancing up to his neck. Majora gave a savage yank, and pulled both blades out of the floor. The two archenemies strode forward purposefully, neither with a trace of fear in their eyes.

As the forces of good and evil clashed and the blades collided, the fallen sapphire that had been knocked high into the air by Majora landed in Saja's hands. He looked down at the sparkling stone, contemplating it's powers. However, as he did this, Sheik, Darunia and Malon were watching the intense battle with a stunned look on their faces. Though none interfeared with them.

Link sincerely hoped that this duel would not end up as their previous one had out on Hyrule Field. He pulled out his best moves, recklessly combining and modifying his greatest tricks, but to no avail. Somehow, Majora was simply too well trained and perfect at the art of sword fighting. Link was soon forced to use his best and most used weapon...improvisation. He flowed from one pose to the next, battering at Majora's large swords. Several times he was nearly sliced in half, but his shield protected him. It was his only defense against the killing machine he was now battling. A rain of heavy blows slammed down on his shield. Link felt his arm go numb as the blade smashed into the surface of it with backbreaking force. He was sure he would have a bruised shoulder afterwards. i If there is an afterwards, /I said a small voice in his head. He did his best not to listen to the sinister voice. Majora slowly pushed him back against the opposite wall. Link caught a swing to his hip with his own sword, and felt a fist connect with his ribs. The wind whooshed out of him, and he stumbled back, hitting the wall. Majora dove forward, swinging to cut his brain right in half. Link ducked the sword just in time, and heard it whistle right above him, cutting a strand of his hair off, and leaving a long gouge in the wall.

Link was about to jab at Majora's ribs while he was ducked down under his arm temporarily, but did not have time, for Majora's other sword was shooting toward his heart. He only just managed to get his shield up in time. The force of the stab however, jarred his arm, and he felt the tremble travel up his arm and through his body. He was sure he would have a severe bruise on both shoulders now. Majora's other sword that had just ripped through the wall came down upon his head, and he blocked the swing with his own sword. Seeing a chance to gain the upper hand, and slammed his shield into Majora's open ribs. While this stunned him, Link head butted him where his face would have been. A few flecks of very dark blood hit his face as he did this. The shadow demon stumbled backwards, and Link charged forward, slashing at his side to cut him in half. Majora recovered fast however, and blocked the blow easily. He batted the sword aside with the other sword, then with a contemptuous flick of his wrist, knocked Link's blade out of his hands. It soared over his head, and stuck into the ground ten feet behind him. Majora raised both blades above his head, and brought them swiftly down to rip through Link's brain. Link did not have enough time to get his shield up...

A blast of blue light flashed through the room, accompanied by many shouts of surprise, including Link. From Saja's hands, the sapphire shot the same energy blast from it that it had done in the Black Leaf Temple. He had not even meant for it to do so, but it had apparently done it of it's own free will. The beam slammed once more into Majora, shooting him across the room, smashing through the wall, and into a pitch black space.

A slightly stunned silence followed this. Everyone was surprised at how quickly everything had gone up and down. Link ran over to his shield embedded in the floor, and yanked it out. The rest of the group strode forward, Saja still clutching the sapphire, his mind reeling with impossible thoughts. Sheik had turned back into Zelda. Darunia was Goron groaning very quietly to himself, and Malon was at Saja's side, afraid to be anywhere near the hole where Majora was. Nabooru and her fellow Gerudo's were huddled together, staring transfixed at Link. They were amazed that he had fought so heroic against the evil being. Link cautiously walked over to the hole in the wall, keeping his shield raised and his sword out in front of him. Zelda made to walk forward toward Link, not wanting him to face Majora's wrath alone, but Darunia held out a huge bulky brown arm and stopped her. "Let him do this alone," he whispered to her. Zelda did not understand. Why could they not help him?

The rivalry between Majora and Link that had started so long ago in Termina had escalated into something more in Hyrule. Link knew the fiend just wanted to hurt him from the inside by attacking his home. That in turn could weaken him. This thought had been consuming him ever since he found out the shadow's identity. This rivalry of good and evil was between the two of them, and between the two of them it had to stay.

Link stopped, three feet away from the huge hole in the wall that was smoking slightly around the charred edges. He peered inside.

Out Majora flew, knocking Link backwards and onto the floor. Majora landed between Link and the rest of the team. His eyes were shining, and huge. They were sure that if he had had a face, he would be grinning broadly. This was not good.

Link jumped to his feet, and got into his fighting stance again, ready to battle again. Majora turned to look at him. i Pathetic Hylian, /I he thought savagely, looking down at the grown up form of the hero that had defeated him in Termina. No more would he defy him. But he would not destroy him here. He would acclaim the final sapphire before doing that.

Majora held up his hand. In one hand, he held one of his swords still. His other sword was sheathed at his side. In the hand he held up, was a gleaming blue ball of light.

The second sapphire.

Link's mind took a second to register this information. When he did, his eyes grew wide, and he lunged for it. Majora curled his long black fingers around the sapphire, and punched Link in the jaw. The force of the hit knocked him to the floor again. Little white stars popped in front of his eyes, and he blinked back tears of pain. He dribbled blood from his mouth onto the floor.

Zelda gasped, and made to run forward past the towering shadow, but Saja grabbed her wrist, his eyes wide with fear. He only shook his head.

"Filthy humans," snarled Majora, and they found that his voice had changed. It was slightly higher pitched...closer to his real voice. "You try to defy me with your puny little efforts. Do you really think to kill me?"

They all stayed silent, not knowing what to say to the unspeakable evil before them.

Majora placed the sapphire in what must have been a pocket. He simply said, "if you follow me to the final stone, I will rip each and every one of you to pieces." and with that, he walked forward, shoving Darunia and Malon aside as he did. The two stumbled in opposite directions. Majora disappeared into the darkness of the other room, and they knew that he had left for the final sapphire.

Zelda immediately sprinted over to Link, lying on the ground with blood by his mouth.

"Link," she gasped, placing a hand under his head. His dazed mind was still trying to work things out; the blow had stunned him. He looked up and saw Zelda's beautiful compassionate face staring lovingly down at him. He tried to smile, but only managed a sort of pained grimace. The two elves hugged each other. Saja, Malon, Darunia, Nabooru, and the other surviving Gerudo's stood in silence, waiting for them to get up.

Once they had broken apart, Zelda helped Link to his feet. He staggered for a second, then shook his head, and sheathed his sword and shield.

"Hero," said Saja urgently to him. Link nodded, pursing his lips tightly. "I know," Link said just above a whisper. "It is a race to the final sapphire. If we don't get there in time...Hyrule is gone."

Saja just nodded. Link gritted his teeth in fury, looking around the ground at the slain corpses of the Gerudo's.

"Let's go," he growled. He walked out of the room without even a glance back at Nabooru, who was still stunned. Saja, Zelda, Darunia and Malon hurried after him, as he lit up another ball of fire to help them find their way out of the fortress and to the final confrontation with Majora.


	9. Resurrection

Chapter nine: Resurrection

Link, Darunia, Saja, Malon and Zelda burst out of Gerudo Valley and onto Hyrule Field on horseback, their horses hooves flying as fast as they could. The wind rushed past them, the clouds were seething overhead. The sun, which was beginning to lower in the sky, had turned a darker shade of yellow. Saja noticed this, and his fingers tightened on his reigns as his horse flew after Link's. Majora was nearing the final sapphire. They had to get there now, or all was lost. Link was patting Epona with a shaking hand. She had never galloped this fast before, and was doing a fine job. He was still slightly dazed and hurting all over his body from his duel with Majora, but he kept his eyes focused ahead, toward the onrushing wind going through his hair, making his hat billow about. He knew that Majora was near his goal, and they were likely done for. He tried desperately to shove this thought away from his mind, but it was haunting him, consuming all thought. He looked around at the surrounding fields with despair, tears forming in his eyes. Majora was going to rip the place he had known for 18 years to shreds.

Zelda galloped furiously beside Link, and as they rapidly approached Hylia Lake, where the final sapphire was supposedly located, from what Malon had seen, the princess reached out and put a hand on his shoulder. He looked over at her, and she saw the desperation in his eyes. Had they truly lost?

Malon, who was riding just behind Darunia, was frequently checking the map. It appeared that the place that had been clumsily circled by Ingo was across Hylia Lake...the opposite side. She informed Saja, and he passed this to Link by shouting to him. i Perfect, /I thought Link bitterly, i we've got to waste more time. /I .

At this point, Saja's past was beginning to torment him once more. The thought of what Majora was about to obtain hit him full force. Majora was going to destroy everything. Everything. There would nothing. All life would perish. Fear coursed through him suddenly at the prospect of this, and he slid sideways in his saddle, his mouth hanging opened, stunned. Malon saw this, and urged her horse forward. She rushed up alongside Saja, and caught him before he fell off. Pushing him back into place, he suddenly came back to his senses, and looked around at her. She would normally have smiled, but the circumstances were simply too dangerous to smile at all.

Ten minutes later, the group galloped into the Hylia Lake grounds, and they felt a rush of cold engulf them as they did. Majora was already here.

The huge beautiful lake that usually glittered in the sun was not glittering at all. It was still, as though it were afraid to move. The sun had darkened even more now, and the world was being cast slowly into darkness. The wind that blew across the fields now was icy, and filled with fear.

Link looked up at the darkening sky, searching for Majora's figure that was sure to be flying toward the final sapphire located across the lake on the shore.

The team began to gallop as fast as they could around the lake. They reached the very edge, the wall of trees to their left, and galloped along the thin strip of rocks that made up the edge. Once or twice, the horses slipped, and they nearly slid into the water, but they managed to keep their footing on the treacherous ledge.

It was when they had almost reached the opposite shore that was made up of grass, that Link and Saja both looked up, and saw it.

The sky behind him was turning swirly purple, and the sun dimmed further, casting the world into dusk. Majora was flying full tilt toward Lake Hylia. Zelda looked up and saw him flying too, a completely black figure coursing evil over the blessed skies of Hyrule.

"GO! GO! GO!" screamed Link, urging Epona onward. He drew out his sword and brandished it above his head. Saja kicked his horse in the side, and they galloped onto the opposite shore, surrounded by trees on three sides. Darunia and Malon galloped on behind them.

"Empty," whispered Darunia, alarmed. And indeed the Goron was right. The shore was completely empty...nothing was there except swaying grass in the icy wind.

It was at that precise moment, that they heard a high pitched whistling, and looked up to see Majora's shadowy figure plummeting toward the ground. The horses whinnied, and stepped back in alarm. As if they all had the same thought at once, all five of them jumped off the horses, and drew out their weapons.

Majora touched down lightly on the ground in front of them. His bright red eyes burned fiery, glaring at them.

"I thought I told none of you to follow me!" he growled dangerously, in the higher voice. Link stepped forward bravely.

"You will not win this, Majora," he yelled over the high wind. "Just give up!"

Majora laughed, and Link was horrified to hear it was high pitched, getting closer and closer to his regular voice. The laugh that stood hair up on the back of his neck. Lightning lanced across the sky, and thunder crackled. Majora cried "you are not in a position to give orders, Hero of Time! Away with you!"

He waved a hand, and all five of them flew backward, landing on the ground twenty feet away. Link desperately tried to pull himself up, but an invisible force help him down. He screamed and yelled, trying to punch at the force imprisoning him, but he could not move his arms. Majora laughed louder at this, and looked down at the ground. Saja's eyes grew wide with fear. He struggled and kicked, adrenaline slashing through him violently.

" I HERO! WE MUST GET FREE!! /I " hollered Saja. Link felt himself tense up. He had to stop him! He could not let him obtain two sapphires, else he would take the third one with ease.

Link struggled against the invisible bindings, but to no avail. Majora was not to be denied. The towering black shadow lowered a hand to the ground as more lightning lit up the sky, and rain began to pour down. The ground beneath his hand shot up everywhere, and made a small hole in the ground. As he kept his hand there, the horrendous spell dug deeper into the earth, nearer to the final sapphire. Link shouted, cursed and screamed with all his might, fighting with every ounce of his strength to get out. Nothing he could do would break the tenacious hold.

"By the power of Ulifeath," boomed Majora, as the ground parted at his feet and rumbled, and a blue light shone from the fissure in the ground and lit up the black figure. "Majora commands you to come forth."

The final light blue sapphire lifted from deep in the ground, and hovered into the air. Majora's red eyes swept over it with delight. Saja trembled with fear, as did each of them. Majora could not be stopped. It was futile.

"No more shall I be imprisoned in this," the abomination spat bitterly. He reached forward and grasped the hovering stone. The sun suddenly turned purple, and the rain pounded down from the heavens even harder in huge droplets.

Majora's long black hair suddenly turned white, shining in the dim glow. The sky grew darker, casting them almost into complete night.

The demon turned to face the team held down by his spell. "And now," he whispered, "to complete my power."

He raised his free hand that didn't clutch the sapphire. Link felt his pocket tremble, and his eyes filled with tears. The sapphire slid out of his pocket, and into the air. Then it shot toward his huge hand.

Time seemed to slow as the sapphire flew through the rain, toward the huge groping hand. All at once, the binding snapped as Majora released them, not caring anymore. They could not stop it. A second before sapphire reached Majora's hand, Link, Saja, Zelda, Malon and Darunia all screamed " i NOOOOOOOOO!!! /I "

The huge black fist curled around the last sapphire...

And then all hell broke loose.

The entire shore exploded in white light, blinding them. The sky screeched and boomed as lightning struck Majora's figure holding all three sapphires.

The team was blasted away, and they splashed into the water. Link pulled to the surface, and broke out, spluttering, staring, transfixed, at what he saw before him.

Majora's body was changing. The blackness was dissipating, his fiery red eyes turned deathly white, as did his skin. He wore long white bloodstained rags from neck to toe. His long skinny fingers were morphing nails inches long and serrated onto them. His muscles bulged, an aura surrounded him, the evil magic pulsated, splitting the ground underneath him. The long white hair that cascaded behind his head grew to his waist.

Majora, Lord of Terror, had risen again.

The sky above them turned pitch black, the sun went dark purple, and the rain continued to come down hard. Saja surfaced, and saw the truly evil figure standing on the grass. Too stunned to speak, he simply gaped at the evil being before them. Zelda, and Malon surfaced also, staring in awe at Majora. Darunia surfaced, screaming. He rolled out of the water, and shook himself down.

"Water! I hate w–"

His eyes fell on Majora, not ten feet away. He stood stock still, staring with fear etched in every line in his face.

A small chuckle gurgled in Majora's throat. He set all three sapphires in his pockets. A smile formed on his thin, white lips. He chuckled deeper, then all at once, his voice leapt up about five octaves. His old voice was back, high up. A cry of insane laughter tore from his lips. He rose high into the air, screaming with mirth, his whole body quaking with vicious laughter. The ground shook, the sky lit up with lightning, and the sound was ear shattering.

Saja looked down, his eyes wider than ever. His heart thumped madly, his body shook.

Link, tears streaming from his eyes mixed with water, gazed up at the tyrant of evil. Nothing could stop him anymore. Nothing could hurt him. He knew in his mind that he would destroy the entire world with no trouble at all. In all his fear, he felt ashamed. He had failed Hyrule completely. He was no Hero of Time.

Zelda who was floating next to Link, hugged him and buried her wet face in his shoulder, hugging him in fear. He wrapped his arms around her, and held her small form close to him.

When the laughter had finally died down, Majora glared down at them with huge white eyes, without any pupils. He opened his mouth in disgust, revealing huge, sharp teeth like an animal.

"Before this falls, I must first take care of some unfinished business," he whispered, loudly enough for them all to hear. He smiled, his terrible face twisted in horrendous triumph. He shot off, out of Lake Hylia, and out above Hyrule Field...heading toward the forest.

Majora had won.


	10. Without Hope

Chapter ten: Without Hope

Link held Zelda tightly in his arms, not wanting to let her go. She was similarly holding him tightly. The waves of evil that had eminated with Majora's return had been too much for her. And for Malon, Link realized as he looked over and saw her shaking also, sending small ripples across the lake.. Saja waded over to her and hugged her tightly. She put her face into his chest and sobbed, her body convulsing.

Darunia, who had sat down on the shore, still dripping wet, had huddled into a ball, and was not speaking. Only now had it occurred to him that Majora had the power to destroy all. And he would, for never before had he felt such waves of pure hate run over him. Even Ganondorf, or Volvagia did not even come close to the Lord of Terror.

Saja, still holding Malon to him, waded over to Link and Zelda. Very quietly, his voice cracking, he asked, "do you have any idea of where He is headed?"

Link wordlessly nodded. He knew exactly where Majora was going, and why. He had gone to finish the work that his mask could not. But now, with him fully regenerated, it would be simple.

"And if I am right in assuming so, we have to go," whispered Link. "We have to follow him, even if we cannot stop him. There may be no more hope for Hyrule, but we have to try. In being here, and within this group, our fate is tied to Majora. It can no longer be undone."

At this Malon sobbed harder. She would never go back to her normal life on the ranch. Not even if, by some miracle, they did manage to defeat Majora, which she knew would not happen. She had stepped into the world that she had feared for years, yet wanted to go into. Link's world. And now that she was inside it, and was tied to it's fate, she was not so sure if she wanted to be inside anymore. She wanted out, she wanted to go back to Talon, to just work for the rest of her days. But she would never see Saja again...

i But if I am so worried about not seeing him ever again, then is there something else that I see in him, other than just a mysterious man? /I 

Her dwellings were interrupted when Link said "we must leave."

"Should we not warn–?" began Darunia, but Link interrupted him impatiently, turning his head toward Darunia. His eyes flashed as he spoke.

"Who?! Who do you want to warn? If we try to warn the King, we will have to travel all the way across Hyrule to tell him, and by that time Majora will have already begun his reign. If we try to warn Talon, the Zora's or the Goron's, we will have the same problem. We don't have a choice. We go alone."

Darunia was slightly taken aback by Link's outburst. Perhaps the realization that they were doomed was getting to him at last, if it had not been already. But if they were to take on Majora at all, should they not go and get someone other than just them? He was still for it, but knew better than to challenge his brothers will. When his mind was set, he knew what he was doing. Even in the face of mortal peril.

Link kept one of his arms around Zelda, helping support her out of the water. Malon let go of Saja with reluctance, and got out after them. Saja hesitated, unsure if they were making the right choice in going after Majora, then wordlessly started after them too. They had nothing left, but it was the only option they had.

After saddling the horses as best as they could while they were still in panic mode from Majora's resurrection, they led them across the small strip of land around the large lake. It was grueling work, painted with the worry of what was going to happen to them. Link especially knew of the intense power that Majora now wielded, after going head on with his wrath in Termina. These troubling thoughts, coupled with trying to lead two hundred pound horses across a shelf of land not two feet wide made it the most difficulty Link had experience since his duel with Majora back at Gerudo Fortress.

When they finally did manage to get the horses all the way to the opposite shoreline, they rode them out of Hylia Lake with haste. Out on Hyrule Field, they fell into tranquil silence. Somehow, words just could not explain what was happening. The poison of evil hung over them, and it was not comforting. Link stayed quiet. He did not know exactly why he wasn't telling the group that Majora was headed for Termina. All he knew was that certain information after what they had just witnessed might be too much to handle. He had to give it time.

Two long hours crept by in this manner, in which time they crossed Hyrule Field and reached the forest again. Dawn was creeping into the sky now, dim rays of light were shining onto the grass, as if they were tentatively coming out, making sure that the tyrant was gone. Link led the rest of the group in a wide detour around the woods, searching for the landmark tree on the edge of the forest that led to the path to Termina's gate. It was the tree he had followed years ago. The tree in question had grey bark rather than brown, most of the branches were bare, even in spring, and it was shorter than the rest. It stood out so much than the others that it was almost as if it was there on purpose, to lure weary travelers onto the path...

It didn't take long to find. Link spotted it first when they were a league from the Kokiri Village entrance. The tree had not changed since he had last laid eyes on it, though perhaps it was a bit taller now. He pointed to the tree, speaking for the first time since they had left Lake Hylia. "That tree leads to a path. That will lead us to Majora."

"If you don't mind me asking, where are we going?" asked Malon curiously.

"Yes, I'd actually like to know where Majora went as well," added Darunia, turning his monstrous horse to face Link. Link shifted uncomfortably. Everyone watched him silently, waiting for him to answer. After ten seconds of silence, he sighed, realizing they would not back down, and said "he went to Termina to destroy it."

Silence.

And then Saja exclaimed loudly, "why!?"

"Because," answered Link tiredly, "it is the land he was born in, and therefore, the one he hates the most. No doubt, his first failure enraged him so much that he wants to get the job done once and for all. I'm almost certain that he will achieve it. But we must see his tactics, and at least try to delay it."

Zelda stayed quiet. In her mind, this following Majora seemed suicidal, though she dared not say it aloud, or Link might get angry with her, which was the last thing she wanted. What the princess really wanted to do was go to Hylia City, warn her father, and get the royal guard assembled for the best possible defense against Majora's legion.

But then, she remembered, that Majora would simply wipe the royal guard away with a single spell. No ordinary warrior could stop him. She held her confidence in Link, herself, Malon, and perhaps Saja too. Darunia was a sage, so she confided in him, too. i So, /I she thought to herself, i we really are the last defense for Hyrule...and the entire world /I .

"So, we're going to Termina," stated Saja.

"Indeed," answered Link, guiding Epona toward the tree, and onto the dusty path.

The sun had risen by the time the gate to Termina had come into view. Link had led them on the same path that he had traversed so many years ago. He could remember every detail of the path, and had found no trouble. As they traveled deeper into the forest, it became increasingly quieter, and the pressure seemed to increase as they came closer to the parallel world.

When they finally reached the row of stumps that progressively rose higher and higher off the ground to the dark portal that led to the long drop into Termina, Link stopped the horses from their brisk trot, and stared up at the foreboding place.

He leapt off of Epona, and quickly tethered her to a nearby tree. "The horses can go no further," he informed them. "They must stay here until we...return."

He could tell that they were all thinking the same thing–that they might not be coming back from Termina at all. This weighed down heavily on all of them, as they gravely followed suit and tethered the horses. Malon took a few minutes to walk away from her horse, for it had been the one she had owned since she was ten years old. She was worried about leaving him here all alone in a part of the woods she had never been in. But she trusted Link's word, and eventually left the horses reluctantly.

They hopped the unnaturally huge stumps up to the doorway. Darunia had some difficulty here, but they managed to heave him all the way up, despite his bulk. They went through the black doorway.

When they had walked about ten feet inside, Link said "stop," very quietly. He turned to the others dark faces.

"This is where we are going to drop into Termina," he informed them. "It is not a very long drop, so just jump, and don't be afraid. If all goes to plan, we should land on a Deku Scrub plant. So, everyone, on my lead..."

They saw him stride forward purposefully, bend his knees, and jump. Zelda clapped a hand over her mouth as she saw him disappear from sight.

The familiar swooping sensation returned to Link's body as he hurtled downward, toward the dim light of the unknown place between the lands. He clutched his hat tightly so it didn't fall off. The ground rushed up quickly, and he landed down on the Deku plant. He bent his knees on impact so as to absorb the shock. He stood there for a few seconds, hunched over, making sure he didn't cramp anything by standing up too quickly, then looked up.

An entire row of black moblin's stood silently, their spears drawn out, watching the Hero of Time hungrily. They did not move to attack, nor move back to run. Link kept his eyes fixed upon them, his teeth gritted. If the others came down, they might be able to help him kill the moblin's, but he could not wait for them. At any moment, he could be rushed by them.

So, without shouting for help, he rolled to the left, drawing out his bow in mid roll. The black moblin's eyes stayed on him. Link jumped to his feet, getting out of his crouched position. His bow sprang up, and he released three arrows at once. They hit two targets, two of the arrows nailing one black moblin in the chest and leg, the other hitting another in the right eye. Roars echoed across the clearing, and the beasts charged the hero. Link put away his bow and wrenched his blade savagely from it's sheath.

"HYRULE!" he bellowed, diving forward into the solid wall of enemies.

All of them heard Link's yell come from down there. Saja glanced worriedly down at the dim light, but was unable to make out anything. It was simply too dank. He leapt off the ledge, sailing down toward Link's aid. As soon as he did this, Zelda readied her magic blasts. She was not going to fight as Sheik this time. Darunia rolled forward and sailed off the ledge. Zelda and Malon both looked at each other.

"Ready?" said Malon, her voice quivering as she drew out her dagger.

"No," was the princess's answer, "but let's go before I talk myself out of it. Let us hope that the skills I taught you come to use now."

Both women charged forward, and leapt off the edge, flying downward, screaming.

Link's blade flashed in the dim light cutting straight through a moblin chest. Blood sprayed from the flopping corpse, but he took no notice of this. Five moblins surrounded him, striking at his mid section. Ducking down low, he spun his leg around once, tripping them all. With some difficulty, he blasting a beam of magic from his palm, dragging it around the circle of tripped up moblins. The drain on his strength came suddenly from the magic, but he didn't care. He drove his sword forward, catching a moblin in the leg before it could bring its spear down on his head. The moblin to his right jabbed at Link's chest. He parried the huge wooden spear, and cut off the arm holding it. As the huge wounded beast fell before him, he leap frogged over it and landed down to face...

"Saja?"

Indeed, the guardian of the sapphires was there, both swords drawn, lethally sawing through multiple enemies faster than Link had thought possible. Insides flew everywhere, but he took no heed. Half disgusted and half fascinated by his skill, he ran forward, assisting in the relentless onslaught. Darunia soon appeared too, hacking through the enemies. By the time Malon and Zelda had landed down, all the moblins were dead, the quiet corpses leaking blood, limbs laying feet away, insides splattered everywhere.

Link, Saja and Darunia wiped their bloody blades clean on the ripped rags of the dead moblins. They were all slightly splattered in the sticky dark liquid.

"I suppose that was a barricade that Majora left," said Zelda. Link nodded. "Yes," he replied, "I expected as much. Like he would let us follow him without at least a few traps? Not him. He probably just created them out of thin air, too."

"Alright, lets move," interrupted Malon, repulsed by the smell developing over the bodies around them. They agreed, walking through the bodies, to the door that Link had gone through long ago. The door opened of it's own accord, and they walked inside.

They were in the room that had formerly been a bottomless pit, which Link had gone across by going from ledge to ledge as a Deku Scrub. Now, however, Majora had created a huge, magical bridge across it. The ledges were totally gone.

"He didn't destroy the bridge," said Link. He swallowed, and turned back to the others. "He's daring us."

"Nevertheless," added Saja, to remind Link of his duty. For a moment, it had dwindled slightly, after seeing that Majora did not care if they came after him or not. "We must continue on. Come."

Link just nodded, and he and Saja led the group all the way across the sparkling bridge, to the opposite end. Walking through the doorway, they entered the Clock Tower.

It was completely silent. The clock was no longer ticking. The many gears that made it up were shredded, and the water that had previously run through it was dried out...empty completely. Link sighed. "Up we go."

The group followed Link, knowing he was the only one who knew where to go. They ascended the ramp, all the way up to the huge door that led out to Clock Town. Link stopped in front of the door. His mouth was dry.

"Are we ready?" he asked reluctantly, wanting more than anything to turn back and flee to Hyrule, dreading what was beyond the door.

"Yes," they all murmured. Link ground his teeth together. He took his sword out, holding his shield in front of him. The others quietly slid their weapons out as well. With sweaty palms, Link pushed his shield against the door, and it swung open...

And they walked into hell.

Fire. Everywhere. Bodies, lying strewn across a completely desolate area. Clock Town was virtually gone. Majora had left the Clock Tower up. Link looked around. All that remained of the huge town was a big black crater, at which they were at the center. Boarding and shredded metal lay smoking in piles of ash, wood still burned freshly. And there were so many dead...lifeless eyes staring up at the heavens, as though hoping to be brought back. Link saw Anju, lying on her back, her hand clutching a bloody hole in her chest as big as a hubcap. Kafei was next to her, his arms around her neck. His legs were missing, and he had two holes in his head. Only a few feet away from them was the carpenter leader, who had previously refused to leave the carnival on the night the moon nearly destroyed Termina. There were hundred others, various people...even the little boys from the bombers gang, their pale, bloodless faces drained of all emotion and life.

Link seized his hair, and strode out of the doorway, biting back a yell of sorrow that was threatening to burst forward. He fell to his knees, punched the ground as hard as he could, bruising his knuckles, and yelled mournfully to the sky, which was now blood red. He lowered his head, his long blond hair falling over his blue eyes, brimming with tears. Everyone he had come to know...dead. Never to return to life. Malon bit her lip, feeling his pain. Zelda was getting tearful too, but held it back.

Saja ran out to Link, and grabbed him around the mid section.

"Link–"

" b i MAJORAAA!! /I /B " shrieked Link, screaming so loud he felt his voice might tear. " b i COME OUT! SHOW YOURSELF TO ME!! /I /B "

And there he was...floating high above the gigantic crater of death. He was smiling sinisterly, as though quite enjoying seeing Link's unbearable pain. His long white hair blew about in the wind.

"Oh, such a piteous form you are, Hero," he said, his high voice echoing in the desolate place. The red sky above him, where the clouds had just been unmoving, suddenly began to seethe violently. "I have torn this land apart. Did you have friends here that you would have liked to say goodbye to? Pity..."

Hatred welled inside Link like he had never felt before. A roaring fire erupted in his chest.

"And what a shame...such a land could have been useful in my rise to power," the terrible demon continued, heedless and uncaring of the raging man underneath him. He looked up at the sky. "But I felt as though this could severely injure your sanity. I suppose I was right." He laughed wickedly. "I have also destroyed the rest of Termina. Every part of it. Does that make you angry, Hero? Hope so..."

And now, along with the horrible hatred, the anguish of sorrow enveloped him at his words. i They died...because of me! /I he felt horribly responsible for everyone. Had he not moved quicker...he should have done something...

And then the hatred came back, overcoming the sadness. His eyes blazed so fiery green that everyone except he and Majora were blinded. Letting out a wild roar of rage, he released five magic arrows faster than he thought possible. They flew straight and true, but the arrows simply went straight through Majora. He laughed terribly at his pathetic attempts to hurt him.

The light faded from the Hero's eyes. He sank to the ground, his hands shaking. His bow dropped from his fingers, and he vomited onto the ground beside him. Saja tried to steady him, but the shock was too much for him. Link sank to the ground, utterly weary.

The last thing he saw before everything went black, was Majora flying to the ground, pushing everyone aside, and walking back inside the Clock Tower...heading back for Hyrule to do the final works.


	11. A Tainted Land

Chapter eleven: A Tainted Land

Link did not wake up until they were back out of Termina.

The rest of the group had carried him with magic back through the gate to Termina, up the huge drop downward, (Zelda using a hover charm to get them back up,) and out into the deep woods of Hyrule.

They camped in the woods that night, all fearing to leave the safety of the forest for fear of what they would find. Saja was horribly aware that even if Majora hadn't destroyed Hyrule by now, they would have no possible way of stopping his future job...the world.

They had a small fire lit. It was very late, yet they were all awake, save Link. All were silent, sitting in a circle around the fire, staring into it's roaring depths. Zelda sat by Link's sleeping form, slightly away from the fire. He was wrapped in blankets, and beads of sweat lined his forehead. He was slightly shaking in his sleep, the violent tremors convulsing him, making him want to wake, but in his comatose state, he still knew that to wake would bring back the troubles that he would eventually have to face...

Zelda stroked his hair, her eyes boring into his closed ones. The swaying black trees around them blew in the quiet wind of the night...a different wind than usual. It was not the blessed wind that blew through the trees every night in Hyrule, and along the plains...she could not put her finger on it, but it felt different. It felt––unwholesome.

As she put a soft finger on Link's smooth cheek, her thoughts drifted to her father. What was happening in Hylia City? Was that where Majora was now? She felt terrible worry envelope her, and she placed her entire hand on Link's cheek. She despairingly stroked his cheek, confiding in his wisdom. It might be the only thing still keeping the five of them alive at the moment.

Saja, who was sitting by the fire like most of them, looked over at Zelda, sitting next to Link. He winced. She was torturing herself for his condition, which was not right. He said, "Princess, please, do not worry. Link will be fine. You have done nothing wrong. You don't have to stay with him."

"I want to," was her simple answer, and she turned her head on Saja. The guardian of the sapphires was slightly taken aback, but made no further attempts to stop her. As he gazed into the fire once more as if in a trance, he reflected on Zelda's odd behavior since they had left Termina. She had insisted on keeping close to Link at all times...as if to protect him. Could it be, perhaps, that the princess fancied him? He shook himself mentally for thinking this. Even if she was in love with him, it was not his place to interfere. i Besides/I he reminded himself, i there's nothing wrong with the two of them together...I mean, they're inseparable... /I

In spite of himself, he glanced up at Malon, who did not notice, for she was lost deep within her own thoughts. His eyes lingered on her long red hair, shining in the light of the fire as it had done the night before Majora's revival. He remained staring at her, until she looked up at him.

Embarrassed, Saja looked downward again, at his shoes.

I I think I'm in love again/I he said to himself. He closed his eyes, trying not to think of her...of Relina...

Zelda was not even looking toward the fire. She was bent over Link's body now, her face not inches away from his. She wanted more than anything to just tell him...to get it out of her system even if it meant them never being friends again. But what if he felt the same way?

Nevertheless, she simply could not bring herself to say it. She desperately whispered, more to herself than to Link, "I love you, Link. I love you so much, it hurts. I just want us to live together...forever. But will it ever happen now? Now that Majora is about to destroy this land?"

Despite her best efforts, she would not contact him in his mind. She would not tell him the truth, no matter how much her heart ached her to tell him. Tears rolled down her cheek's as she saw his handsome face glowing in the firelight. She swiftly bent over, and kissed him on the forehead for luck against the terrible foe that they would soon have to face again. As her lips lifted away from his forehead, however, Link's eyes fluttered very slightly.

She gasped, putting a hand under his head for support. Was he going to wake finally?

Link's eyes opened a hairs breadth, then wider, until his blue eyes could be seen. He looked up into Zelda's face, then smiled.

"Welcome back," she whispered to him.

The night dragged on ever slower. During that time, Link began to recoup with his thoughts and fears. He and Zelda joined the rest of the group around the fire. They were in tranquil silence, none of them wanting to talk.

Eventually, however, they had to discuss the events that occurred in Termina, no matter how painful it may be for Link. It was around two in the morning, with all of them still awake, when they finally began to come out of their comatose stupor.

"Majora's power is growing," Saja informed them all, his voice breaking slightly. "Both his rise to power and the destruction of Termina have strengthened his evil. It will be harder than ever from here on out."

"Well what do you plan on doing!" Link exclaimed. "He destroyed Termina in i ten minutes. /I Who's to say he won't do the same thing to Hyrule?"

Zelda, who was laying on Link's chest, said "because you are here."

He looked down at her, and she looked up at him. "What do you mean?" he questioned.

"Well," she said slowly, "Majora wants you dead, Link. I'm sure you've already established this. But, he is also the face of evil, so before you die he wants to injure you as mentally as possible. He could cripple your mind, even break it if he wanted to. With the pain and suffering caused in Termina, it made you faint. He knows that this horrible feeling can only be magnified in your own homeland. So, I expect...that he won't take over Hyrule all at once. I have the deep feeling that he has taken Hylia City. And so far, that is all he wants."

Malon and Darunia listened intently. When Zelda was finished, Malon said "well, are you saying that Majora only destroyed Termina to hurt Link?"

"Precisely," was the princess's answer. She looked up at him worriedly. "You are not responsible for their deaths. There was nothing you could have done."

"But it is because of me..." he said quietly. No matter anyone's words, he could not come to forgive himself for all of this. What he had caused. He felt tainted...sickened with himself.

"I don't deserve to be the Hero of Time!" he said suddenly. "Look at me! I can't stop Majora! None of us can! What the hell does our life mean if nothing can be done? Why would the goddesses not help us in the time of need! Why did I have to get chosen for this job! Don't want to have this on top of me anymore!"

His voice rose to a shout near the end. When he was done, everyone stayed silent. They didn't know what to say. The only person who spoke up quietly was Malon.

"Link..." she whispered, "I've...I've been meaning to ask you...why does Saja call you Hero of Time?"

Link froze, as did Zelda. Darunia's eyes grew wide, as everyone suddenly remembered that Malon was the only person who didn't know Link's title of the Hero of Time.

Nobody knew what to say. Everyone was silent. Malon was gazing curiously at Link's form, his arms wrapped around Zelda. He seemed to be struggling with himself. Should she be told? She was definitely trustworthy, and was one of his closest friends...

"We have to tell her, Link," said Zelda gently to him, squeezing his arm. He frowned, knowing she was right. He looked back up at Malon.

"You have a right to know," choked Link, staring at the ground. "I...that is...um..."

Zelda interrupted sharply, saying "It all started long ago, when Link was ten. A fairy woke him one morning and told him of a great evil that had consumed the Great Deku Tree. Link took the Kokiri Sword, bought a shield, and went to the tree. The Tree told him many things––"

As Zelda continued, Link found it was much simpler to just let her tell the story. He had never been comfortable about people speaking of his deeds. It made him uncomfortable. He had started out as a lowly Kokiri boy, and still preferred a low profile. For some reason, he just could not stand people gawking when they heard of his feats. He kept his eyes down, only half listening to Zelda talk. Saja and Darunia, though they both knew of the great adventure that had taken place in Hyrule, and then later on, Termina, listened intently, for Zelda and Link were the only one's who knew the entire details.

It seemed to take ages, but Link did not seem to notice the passing time. Nearly the entire time he was staring into the fire's roaring depths, even when he felt the eyes of Malon on him as she heard of the incredible things he had done. Link heard Zelda speaking as though he were hearing it in another time, another place. Part of him was elsewhere, floating in a dark abyss, as he recalled on the evil spreading across the world.

"...He gave me the ocarina, and I sent him back to ten years old. He visited me several days later, and I gave him the ocarina back. Then he left for Termina..."

As Link had also told her of the events in Termina, she launched into the story of Skull Kid's corruption with the mask, the moon, and the four Giants. This took around an hour to get all the way through, and when she finally finished, Link felt relieved.

"...He arrived in Hyrule days afterwards. To me, you seemed older, Link. Your hair was longer, your tunic was different, you were taller, and you had seen even more danger, and confronted the ultimate evil."

Link finally snapped back to attention, and found Saja, Darunia and Malon staring, wide eyed at him. He lowered his head, so his long spikes of hair covered his eyes. He felt very uncomfortable now.

"There is no need to be ashamed of your actions, Link!" consoled Zelda, putting a hand on his shoulder behind her head. "You should feel proud. Think of what you have done and be happy, for you have done all you possibly could to save this land, and the other."

"It was not enough now though," replied Link monotonously, heedless of Zelda's words. "I don't care about past deeds. Termina is gone, and all of my friends dead. You don't seem to understand...who cares if it wasn't Hyrule! I knew many people there! I got to know them almost as greatly as all of you."

Rage at Majora's actions swelled up inside him again, but he forcefully held back the urge to cry out. Instead, he said, "we should get some sleep. We're going to need it tomorrow, because we have to get back to Hylia City."

The group tiredly rolled out their blankets, and flopped down, too drained of emotion to set out a watchman...they doubted that Majora could find them in here. He was undoubtably either in Hylia City, or somewhere else in Hyrule, destroying it.

As Link took off his hat, and laid down on his sheets, he watched Zelda lay down a few feet away from him, her dark face obscured, now that the fire was out. As he saw her put her head down, his hidden love for her swelled up unbearably. He watched her silently, until his eyes fluttered, and he shut them, succumbing to the haunting disease of restless sleep.

Although he did not know because of the darkness, Zelda was watching him too.

They exited the woods early the next morning after only a few hours of sleep. Not surprisingly, Saja had been the one to wake them. Link had found it harder than ever to rise, wanting more than anything to just continue sleeping, oblivious to all except the inside of his eyelids. But not so...for if he had delayed, Saja probably would have kicked him.

When they emerged onto Hyrule Field, Link gritted his teeth in fury.

The sky was normal, the sun shining bright light down, except for the clouds. They seemed to be stretched, and were no longer puffy as they usually were. And they were completely back, and unmoving. As for the field, the normally soft green grass was yellow, and most of the field was sloshy mud, now.

But on the horizon, the sky abruptly changed to dark red, and it was seething, as though scorched. Link knew that stretch of sky was directly above Hylia City...

Incredibly, nothing was torn down, as they had expected. Malon had expected Lon Lon Ranch to be on fire, or already burned down, but it was not, it was still standing. Although she did not know what her father was doing now that the change of conditions in the weather and aridness had moved so quickly and unexpectedly.

Epona even noticed the change of conditions, and was snorting rapidly, probably out of anger at seeing Hyrule tainted by Majora's evil.

As usual, the trip across the life-extricated field of Hyrule was spent in silence. It was around noon, Link guessed, as to the suns position in the sky, when they finally glimpsed Hylia City...

But it was not Hylia City that they saw.

The white walls were gone, along with the forest on the western side. Instead, all that was there was a huge, black wall, extending up at least five miles into the sky. The gate was up, and there was no sign of life at all.

The red plume of sky was directly over them, and the nearer they got to the huge black outer walls of Majora's new fortress, the dimmer the sun got.

They stood on the top of a large rise on the field, surveying the evil place with blank expressions. Wind blew through the desolate area of the destroyed field...the evil wind that had plagued it with Majora's arrival, and continued presence.

And now...what more could be done. Majora had taken the biggest power in all Hyrule, and they were five lone people against the entire empire now. As the weight of grief crushed down on their shoulders, Link looked down at the dried grass, and whispered hoarsely, "we have to go."

A moments silence followed these words, but nobody raised protest. Zelda knew it in her mind...her father was dead, long dead. Probably for at least 24 hours, and his body had not been buried or burned. The people––her people––were now slaves to Majora, and his black legion.

"Where should we go?" said Saja, his voice breaking slightly in the dry wind.

"It doesn't matter anymore," Link said, a single tear rolling down his face as he again realized that he could feel no life anywhere on Hyrule Field, except for themselves. "You could leave...go back to your own land. Stay there, or go somewhere else. Seek safety, for I cannot give it to you."

Malon, so drained of vitality and emotion, yet rocking with pain and anguish as the rock of defeat weighed down on them all, managed to get her tongue around her words.

"I stay with you Link––for as long as my heart beats, and the world survives, be it under evils reign, or golden times."

Malon's invisible treaty was nothing to her anymore. She had accepted her fate, and rode over to Link. Zelda raised her head, forcing herself to not cry. "As do I," she said, also riding next to Link, taking his hand. The hand with the Triforce on the back of it. Darunia silently rode over, saying quietly, "we ride together, we die together. You are my brother forever." and he placed a big hand on Link's shoulder.

Saja trotted over to the Hylian's, and looked at them sadly.

"I stay with you also, hero," said Saja loyally. "I do not seek safety in this time of need. Hyrule has been taken, and I will not abandon you. I stay."

Link somehow could not describe to them what it meant to see them all there, arranged on his side when they knew in their minds that Majora had truly won. Instead, he just smiled weakly, turned Epona, and they turned off to the south, to Gerudo Fortress. As they galloped off, Link stole a glance over his shoulder, taking one last look at the black fortress.

If this was the end, he would face it without fear.


	12. The Darkness Deepens

Chapter twelve: The Darkness Deepens

It took the group the rest of the day to actually reach Gerudo Fortress. The trip had not been without discomfort...Link had remained tense, knowing that even now Majora's demons were out on Hyrule Field, hunting them. It was midnight when they arrived, and were greeted by the guards, who wordlessly ushered them into the main hallway of the fortress. As they entered in, Link noticed that the huge hole that Majora had blasted in the side of the fortress was already almost fully remade...some of the bricks were still scattered across the sand, and hammers lay abandoned for the night, along with cement for molding new bricks.

Only a few days before, when they had been here, this room had been full of frantic gerudo's, but now, only a few silent guards stood along the walls, motionless, holding spears.

"Sir, what may we do for you this evening?" asked the female guard who had brought them inside.

"Please bring Nabooru to me," answered Link. The guard seemed surprised, but hurried off, up the two main curving staircases, to the upper levels to fetch Nabooru from her bed chambers.

While everybody waited, Link tightened his grip on his sword, which he had drawn out. Every time he heard the slightest noise from outside, he whirled around, sweat beading on his forehead. He stayed tense until Nabooru arrived in the hall, disheveled, and still in her night gown, but looking wide awake. She hurried over to them, with a few guards trailing behind her, wondering why she was approaching a Hylian with such urgency.

"Link! What happened? Why are you here now...? Why did you leave? What was that...shadow that attacked us a few days ago? What was––"

"All things will be explained," Link cut in, "but we must talk in a more private place. Can you take us somewhere?"

Nabooru looked around with wide eyes, then said in an undertone, "but...yes, of course I can. Come, follow me."

She led them up the curved stairs that she had entered the hall from, and along a maze of many corridors. The fortress had become as lavishly decorated and elaborated as the former Hyrule Castle had been over the years after Link's return from Termina. They had built the fortress up so much, that it was nearly triple the size it had been when Link had freed the carpenters so many years ago, in the different time...Ganondorf's time.

After nearly ten minutes of navigating the spectacular fortress, Nabooru finally stopped at a doorway at the end of a corridor. She opened the door, and ushered them all inside with a wave of her dark hand. They entered, and she shut the door behind them.

They were in a circular room, with furniture lining the walls, and big paintings all over. On one side of the room was a balcony that overlooked the Haunted Wasteland, no longer haunted, but a beautiful view, and all along the walls, in between the chairs and couches, were doors to separate rooms––bed chambers.

Nabooru turned to the group, who all suddenly realized how out of place they must look. Against the richly decorated walls, they were wearing sweaty and dirty clothes, bloodstained from battle, some parts torn up, and they bore open weaponry.

"What is happening?" she said, a hint of plea in her voice now, from lack of information as everything happened around her.

Link ushered her into a seat, and everybody sat down, though Link made sure his sword was loose in it's scabbard. He looked intently at Nabooru's face, then said, "do you remember the day I left Hyrule when I was ten?"

Nabooru nodded, seeming slightly confused. What did this event so many years ago have to do with the here and now?

"I went to a land called Termina...a parallel land to Hyrule. There, I spent a full three days fighting with a mask...Majora's Mask, it was called."

Nabooru listened intently now, drinking in his words.

"I was forced to relive those three days several times over, with my ocarina, for Majora's Mask had tainted the moon, and it was to crash into Termina in three days, eliminating all life. I summoned four Giants during those three relived days, and on the fourth morning, they stopped the moon from crashing. I went up into the moon, and fought Majora's Mask with all of my strength––with the help of another mask. In the end, I defeated the mask, and restored peace to Termina. Then I came back here, and have lived here ever since."

Nabooru just shook her head in amazement. "You saved another land...incredible. But, what does this have to do with the shadow?"

"Everything," said Link, his voice showing hints of fear, which she noticed. "The shadow...the one that attacked the fortress...it was Majora. Not his mask, it was actually him. The one who forged it."

Although Nabooru could never truly understand how bad this news was, she had a general idea, and her eyes grew wide with fear.

"We were trying to stop him from obtaining three sapphires, which would complete his power and enable him invincible. But...we failed, and he has returned to full power. In the days that we left the fortress up till now, Majora obtained the final sapphire, regenerated, we followed him to Termina, and he destroyed it completely. Now he has come back to Hyrule, and took over Hylia City. If you find a proper view from the fortress, you might be able to see what he has now turned it into...a black fortress controlled by his power and mind."

"Fuck!" cursed Nabooru unexpectedly. She jumped up and paced desperately across the room. She tried to hide her fear and anger, but failed miserably when she punched the wall with a loud bang, shaking it slightly.

She turned back to the group, sitting on the couch.

"Wh–what do we d–do?" she asked, her voice trembling.

And it was then, that Link wished more than ever, that he was no longer the Hero of Time. He had to tell her...there was nothing for it.

"Nothing...he has won."

A horrible silence dragged after this sentence. Nabooru eased herself into a chair, her legs shaking. Hyrule was done for...as was Termina. In a few days, Hyrule would be nothing more than an abandoned, looted wasteland, haunted by Majora's beasts.

The silence prevailed for ten minutes, everybody not speaking their unbounding worries. Link sat with his face in his hands. Nabooru was shaking slightly, unable to accept defeat. After so long with peace and prosperity, Hyrule was finally conquered.

They spent nearly a month at the fortress, in separate rooms off of the circular room they had gone to that night.. All of them stayed apart from each other most of the time. They had no more power, and what more could they do now, besides stay at the fortress and wait for the inevitable.

Interestingly enough, Majora did not spread his evil...but stayed in Hylia City, watching over all. But they saw signs of his return. His beasts started wandering into Gerudo Valley, under the scorching sun. Sometimes the team helped kill the fiends, but most of the time stayed in the fortress, seeking solitude from the coming darkness. Most of the enemies were small time anyway.

Darunia rolled around the Haunted Wasteland nearly every day. Nobody knew exactly how far out the goron went, or why, but Darunia left the fortress early in the morning, and came back at noon every day, then stayed in the fortress the rest of the day. That was how it went for him every day.

Saja, strangely enough, stayed with Malon most of the time in the fortress, and Malon was deeply grateful for his company, even if they didn't talk much. They spent hours up on the balcony of the circular room they had gone to the first night at the fortress, gazing out at the sun, sometimes holding each others hands without knowing it. A lot of the time, Malon told him small stories from her own past, but he was mostly mute about his. After the night on the road before Majora's resurrection, he kept thinking back to it, wondering why he had revealed his past to her when he had been so reluctant to show it to any others. However, as they days passed, Saja and Malon grew more and more accustomed to each other, and gerudo's periodically saw Malon and him holding each other. Malon felt as though he was the only person that could really ease her pain at the moment.

Zelda, though she wanted to be held by Link desperately now, avoided him around the fortress. She stayed cooped up in her room for days at a time, with only her depressing thoughts for company. Sometimes, she heard Link knocking on her door, but she just retreated further into the room, and ignored his voice, though she ached to run out and hug him.

She was fully aware now that, even if somehow, by some great miracle, they defeated Majora, they could not return her father to life. She was now the Queen of Hyrule, as much as she did not want the title. She hadn't expected to wear the crown for many years, but now, the burden had been thrust into her chest, and here she crouched in Gerudo Fortress, like a whimpering puppy afraid of a loud noise.

Even more prominent in her mind now, was the fact that she needed a man at her side to be king. In her own fantasy mind, she was imagining Link to be that man, and had always dreamed of marrying him, but with her being queen, if he ever was to marry her, he would be forced to become King of Hyrule...and she did not know if he would even want this to be given to him. He already had the horrible burden of being the Hero of Time, which was bigger than anything she could imagine...but King? Zelda was sure that he would not want to wear the crown. And if he did love her, but didn't want to be King, then how could they ever marry?

All of these despairing thoughts whirled through the Queen's brain, until she wept uncontrollably nearly every day. Yet even when Link came knocking, she shrank back, her horrible thoughts returning to her...he would never love her anyways.

Link was suffering just as much as Zelda was. His days were spent at either the bar in Gerudo Fortress, or in his room. He quickly stopped trying to talk to Zelda, because he knew that she would not answer him even if he tried. He so wanted to just admit his feelings for her, but in light of her new position as Queen of Hyrule, which Link had realized only days after their arrival at the fortress, he did not want to give her more to think about.

Incredibly, Link's thoughts were parallel to Zelda. He wanted to marry her more than anything, even if it meant being crowned King. But he did not think that Zelda would want him to be the King, and he doubted that she even had feelings for him at all...all these muddled thoughts had led him to the bar deep down in the fortress basement, where several gerudo women drank too. Link went there every day, sometimes getting drunk and escorted back to his room where someone would help him get the alcohol out of his system. Link had never been an alcoholic before, and he wasn't now, but he was drinking to get the suffering thoughts out of his mind. Even though it never worked, he kept coming back, despite his worry that he would get addicted.

I The Hero of Time...sitting at a bar with a beer glass in his hands, /I he thought bitterly, coughing as he took another drink of beer, emptying his mug. His hat was laying on the table beside him, and his normally neat spikes of long golden hair were all pointing in different directions, the hair completely unkempt and unbrushed in days. He had let himself go, knowing he had nothing to lose. As far as he was concerned, his title of Hero of Time was no more. He was no more a hero anymore than Zelda being a princess anymore.

And so the days passed by...none of them really noticing the passing time.

Link lay on his bed in his room, staring up at the ceiling unseeingly. His contemplation of Majora was back again, after countless times. It happened many times a day...he would randomly start thinking of Majora, and he would not be able to get him out of his head. He would try to think up possible ways of defeating him, all of his ideas stupider than the last.

A few hours passed, with Link not moving once, just staring at the ceiling.

And then...when the sun was just beginning to set, Link sat bolt upright, electrified. He stared through the darkness, toward his door. Every fiber of his being was trembling, his muscles were tensed.

He had finally come up with an idea...an impossible idea, a suicidal idea, and completely crazy mans idea...but an idea nonetheless...

Leaping up from his bed, and seizing his hat, he slammed it onto his head and opened the door, running out into the circular room, which was empty.

He dashed across the room, to Zelda's door, and elbowed it open with such force, that it splintered slightly in his anticipation.

Zelda, who had been laying on her bed likewise staring at the ceiling, sat up quickly, gazing at Link for the first time in a month.

"L–Link?" she said, her voice trembling slightly. "What's wrong?"

Link shut the door behind him, and whispered, hardly daring to believe his words.

"I've had an idea."

Zelda's eyes widened, and a tiny glint of hope shone from them, something she hadn't felt in a long time. She need not even ask what his idea was for, because she already knew what was on his mind...it had been what was on the entire teams mind for four weeks.

"What's your idea?" she said at once, grabbing his muscular arms in anticipation. Link stared at her, wondering if he should really tell her.

A split second later, he remembered that he had nothing to lose.

"...we have to steal the sapphires from Majora."

The words hung in the air, seeming stupid, even comical. Zelda stared back, unblinking.

"Look, I know it sounds crazy, and I know that it's a stupid idea, but we don't have any other choice, so don't try to raise any objections. My mind is set, and we have to do it. Otherwise we just sit back for another month and watch Hyrule decompose. Would you rather do that, or at least try to do something?"

Zelda just stared, then smiled slightly, something that had not been done for a whole month.

"I'm in. Now, what's the plan?"


	13. Prelude to Chaos

Chapter thirteen: Prelude to Chaos

Link spread out the map across the round table, smoothing it out to make sure it was totally legible. Zelda, Malon, Darunia, Saja, Nabooru, and several gerudo's were gathered around, waiting for Link's explanation.

Link breathed in for a few seconds, then pointed down at a spot on the map.

"This is the back of the fortress. Me, Zelda, Darunia, Saja and Malon will sneak around through the woods and come out here. We will lead all of you," he indicated the gathered gerudo's, "over the wall. As we do this, the army must stay at the gate to the fortress. Majora won't check the gate, he doesn't think he needs to, which gives us the advantage.

"Now, once our small group is over the wall, we will split. Me, Zelda, Darunia, Saja and Malon will find a way into Majora's main tower fortress, and the gerudo's will go around the edge of the inside of the city. You will hide in a building, and stay there in disguise until I contact you with my mind, Arya," Link pointed to a tall gerudo wearing golden flanged outlandish armor. She was one of the few gerudo that he knew personally. "I will tell you when we have gained access to the tower. Then you must I very quietly /I kill the dark legion monsters in that building. Make sure that nobody hears you, for if they do, it will mean the end of the entire plan, and all will be for naught.

"After you have done this, take their uniforms, but keep your heads covered. The demons will recognize your dark skin if it is shown. Make your way to the drawbridge to the gate, and cut the ropes as quickly as you can. When the bridge is down, the army will come in, and we can attempt to take back the first part of the city. By this time, we, that is to say, our group, should be high into Majora's Tower. If we are very lucky, we may be able to find the sapphires, and kill Majora without trouble. Although this is doubtful, it's the best plan we have."

The gerudo's and others alike around the table nodded, showing that they understood the plan.

"I sense uncertainty in you, brother," said Darunia.

"Well, I can't say that this plan is all that comforting, brother," answered Link with a small smile.

"Nabooru," said Saja, "you must be ready for sacrifice. It is quite possible that we will lose this fight. If that happens, it will be the end of Hyrule. This is our final stand, and we can't turn back from here."

Nabooru took a second to take this in, but nodded her assent. It would not do now to lose their cool when the entire fate of the world was now resting upon her and her people.

"This isn't pretty," said Link lightly, "but the way I see it, it's the only chance we have left. Failure here will mean the end of Hyrule, and eventual defeat for everyone and everything else. We can't stop now. We move out in two hours. Now go and complete your tasks. Everybody."

Link sat in his room, straightening the collar on his traditional green tunic. He looked at himself in the mirror by his bed, and saw the fear in his own eyes...they were taking the final stand, and it was likely they were going to fail. In some ways, he felt responsible for all of Nabooru's people, since it had been his idea to steal the sapphires. All the deaths that would occur tonight would be his doing...he did not know if he was ready for it. But he was going to try as hard as he could to do his best, and regain his honor, and the title of Hero of Time.

He sat down on the bed, still looking in the mirror at his reflection.

"The plague is spreading...Majora's reign has only begun. And we are all that stands in his way. With his army, he could take over every land, annihilate the universe. The death he spreads is a poison, and in some places it has already been infected. There is no cure for this dark taint. In spite, or perhaps because of it, we have to take action. But how and where will it end? My sight is veiled...all the future is hidden in a dark void, impossible to look into. If the plague does continue to spread, all will perish, and that which was broken, shall come forth from the ancient seal. With the King of Evil at his side, nothing will stop them. The only thing that may truly stop evil...is light..."

Link did not know why he said this. He felt as if the words were coming from a different place...as though somebody was talking through his own mouth. Yet, despite his uncertainty, he knew the words he spoke were true. He could not understand why.

But he realized what the words meant...simply acquiring the Three Sapphires was not enough to completely stop him. To end the evil, Link needed more than just that...he needed...

Zelda opened the door, and walked inside, dressed in her black jumpsuit. She had tied her hair back to keep it out of her face, and wore blue colored gloves over her hands. These would help her fire her pyrotechnic beams faster, and more accurately.

"Are we ready?" she asked him softly. He looked up at her, the face he had known for so many years, the one he had looked upon so often...and now, when he saw her tonight, dressed up like this and ready to join the final fight for Hyrule, he saw her in a totally different way. She had ascended into a new day, as Queen.

Link stood up, and took Zelda's hands, looking deeply into her eyes.

"Listen, Zelda...I only know that we have to do this...but beyond that, I'm not..."

"I know," Zelda said quietly, looking straight back at him. "You don't think we're coming back."

He gazed at her, hating that she knew he was so full of fear at the moment. He did not see how he could hide it. But he could sense that she was fearful too. He would have been surprised if she wasn't.

"His power is too great...this is just our last resort, you must understand. And if you don't want to come––"

"I'm coming," said the Queen firmly to him. "I will not back down now. I must play my part before the end."

Link felt an overwhelming desire to kiss her, but he withheld the desire. He tried to choke out the truth, but the words caught in his mouth, and he remained silent. He nodded lamely, unsure of what else he could do.

"Are you ready?" she asked him. He nodded, and they walked out of the room, arms around each other for support.

Malon stood in her own room, wearing a similar black jumpsuit to Zelda's. She had also tied her hair back behind her head.

As she studied herself in her mirror, she noticed that she didn't look at all like the ranch girl she had been only months ago, before she left Lon Lon Ranch after Ingo's attack. She looked much older, to her, and her eyes were hardened. She had seen much action since the start of this whole mess, and she also noticed she seemed more muscular. That may be a good thing in some light, but it just showed her a further sign that her life had completely changed. She had transcended her days as a simple farmer and had become what she had always dreamed of, a warrior. In some ways, she was depressed by this, yet another part of her said that this was what she was destined to do, and it was a good thing.

But she could not stop herself of thinking of Talon, and how horribly the ranch might be holding up without her. Such worried thoughts kept going through her mind, but she forcibly pushed them away, refusing to think of home. She had other things to do first. She took a sword off of her bedside table, one that had been given to her by Nabooru to fight with, and sheathed it at her side.

Saja walked in, and she turned to look at him. He was wearing all black, like Zelda and Malon. His purple hair was hanging down over his eyes as he looked at her. She noticed that his gray eyes didn't hold the hardened gleam of battle at the moment. They were softer, they seemed more forgiving. Yet she knew that he could snap back at any moment and become the ruthless fighter she knew.

"Are we ready to go?" she asked quietly. He nodded wordlessly.

"Saja," she said, walking over to him, "are you...are you as scared as I am? Because every time I think of this plan, I cant help but think...if this doesn't work, it's the end, totally and completely."

Saja looked at her seriously, and said with such conviction that it was impossible to doubt his words, "I'm scared, Malon. I have never been this nervous in my life, nor as unsure. Not even...not even after Relina was murdered."

She looked down at her feet, and said "it...it took me...fifteen minutes to tie on one boot."

The sapphire guardian looked down at her, and lifted her chin up to look at him.

"You need not feel ashamed. We could not have come this far without your help. If you and Zelda had not killed Ingo, Majora would have gotten to the sapphires faster than us, and it is likely we would already be dead."

"How did you know about Ingo? We met you hours after he was killed!"

Saja didn't answer. Instead, he just smiled slightly. Malon couldn't help but smile back. The same old mysterious man that she had come to know so well since they met.

She pulled him closer, and the two embraced. Malon silently let tears drip down her face as she realized that their final mission had come.

Less than an hour later, Link, Darunia, Saja, Zelda and Malon all rode out of Gerudo Valley for the first time in a month. The army of gerudo's were behind them. Every single gerudo warrior had been called to the army, and it was massive. Bigger than any army Link had ever laid eyes on.

The team led the army across Hyrule Field at a quickened pace, toward the red tinged sky that once had been Hylia City. As they drew closer to the fortress, Link saw with anger, that the black walls of the fortress had already extended. Now, Kakariko Village was gone too. Death Mountain still stood, but Link was sure that the gorons were now enslaved by Majora's legion. Darunia, riding a few feet behind Link, saw this also, and ground his teeth in fury. Now Majora had taken his own people...perhaps he had not considered his power as much as he should have...now that his people were enslaved, he felt obligated more than ever to help his brother defend, and perhaps save Hyrule. Though he still doubted that they could succeed, he hardened his eyes with a glare, the fierce warfire returning to his face.

Link, Zelda, Malon, Saja, Darunia and the army stood on a rise in the field, allowing them to get a clearer than ever view of the black fortress Majora had created.

The fortress was massive. It stretched from where Hylia City's borders had once been all the way to the opposite borders of Kakariko Village...and that was only the surrounding part of the fortress. Majora's Tower sprouted out from the very back, and reached very high up indeed, perhaps as far up as the Black Leaf Temple had gone. Gray billowing clouds swirled around the distant top, and lightning periodically struck the tower, sending a cascade of sparks down upon the evil town below. It was a terrible sight to behold...yet Link felt slightly reassured. The drawn gate/bridge that would soon be cut open was in the same place that it had been when Hylia City was standing. He recalled from his long past childhood, riding up in the very early morning after cutting down Stalchilds with his sword, and both watching and listening to the huge bridge gate being lowered down onto the grass to admit travelers. That was how it had been on the morning of the day that he first met Zelda...

"Gerudo's! Ride to the gate and wait for the opening! Everyone else, come with me."

The two groups parted. The army galloped down the hill toward the distant black drawn bridge/gate, while Link led Darunia, Malon, Zelda, Saja, and the small group of gerudo's led by Arya down the other way, toward the forest to the west of the black walls of the fortress. Link remembered vividly that they were coming very closely to the place where he had first glimpsed Majora in his shadow form decapitate Malachai because of his incompetence. Despite his anxiousness and how long ago it had been, he remembered every detail perfectly.

Within ten minutes, they were on the edge of the forest, the huge black walls of the fortress towering high above them, reaching up so high that they had to crane their necks to see the tops.

They all got off their horses and tethered them to individual trees. As the others trekked into the trees, Link lingered at Epona's side, his hand on the back of her neck. He was reluctant to part with her, knowing that this may very well be his final moments with her. Saja walked over to Link, and put a hand on his shoulder, saying quietly, "we must go, hero."

Link nodded, then hugged Epona. The horse snorted, and lowered her head onto Link's neck. They stood there together, animal and elf embracing each other, then Link let go of his faithful friend, patted her on the back, and walked into the woods, refusing to turn his head back.

For a half hour, the big group walked through the woods, Link directing them in the right direction. Nobody spoke a word the entire time, keeping to themselves, refraining from distracting from the mission at hand.

They eventually reached the very back of the fortress wall, and Link peered up through the dense foliage, the red rosy light filtering down through the canopy from the plagued sky above them, the black clouds seething around. He could just make out the very top of Majora's Tower, but it was blurry in the clouds, and he had to crane his head back all the way, and had to lean back a little ways. He lowered his head, then beckoned to everyone to come forward to him. When they had all gathered around in a tight circle, Link told them the plan.

"We have to go over in pairs. The only way to scale the wall is my Longshot. I can carry only one person, and I don't want to risk breaking it. Here's what we'll do. Me and Saja will go up first, and stay on the ledge. I'll shoot the Longshot down, and with luck, it should hang down far enough to let two people get onto the chain. Then I'll withdraw the chain, and bring two people up at a time. Once we're all up on the ledge, we'll do the same thing, except I'll be on the ground shooting the Longshot up to you guys. Clear?"

They all nodded silently, not needing to respond in words. Saja put his arm around Link's neck, and Link put his arm around Saja's. Link fired the Longshot up toward the high top of the huge black wall. He managed to stick the Longshot into the wall just a foot under the top. As Link put his finger over the release trigger that would send them up and over the wall, he looked down at the grass, knowing full well that it may be the last time he touched grass.

He pressed down on the button, and both elves shot upward impossibly fast.

Twenty minutes later, the entire group were standing inside the city, clustered at the back of a large building that reeked of smoke. Most of the place now was smokey.

The main structure of Hylia City hadn't been changed, apart from the fact that all the buildings were black, the whole place was smokey, it was about twice the size it once had been, and all the elves that were still alive were on chains, cut, bruised, and were being dragged around by black demons of Majora's creation. Majora's Tower rose high above the entire city, making sure that every single person saw it at all times. The tower was massive, and it's enormous wideness even took over where the Temple of Time had once been.

Link peered around the building they were behind. They were in the very interior of the city, and the middle of the city, where the Market had once been, was at least 200 yards away from them. But the interior of the city had many black moblins, Iron Knuckles dressed all in black armor, black stalfos, and other beasts that Link had never seen before, dressed all in black, like all the others. The unknown beasts were seven feet high, looked to be more powerful than even the biggest Knuckle, their skin was a horrid yellow-green, and they had monstrous swords slung across their backs. These were the majority of the monsters walking around. A few of them were smacking the elven slaves around, punching them against buildings for their own amusement.

To Link's horror, he even saw several elf bodies lying on the ground in pools of their own blood. Their organs had been ripped out their stomachs, some were decapitated, some were missing several limbs...

Link turned away, tears blurring his vision. They had to save this place before the violence spread to the rest of Hyrule.

"Alright, now listen," he said, speaking to the group. "The legions aren't going to come to the very back of the city, so i stay near the wall at all times /I . Get as close as you can to the bridge, and sneak inside the back of a building, it doesn't matter which building. Make sure that you kill the legions inside the building before they see you, or they may raise the alarm. Once you've killed them, hide their bodies, take their clothes, wait for my okay, Arya, then get to the gate as fast as you possibly can. Even though you're disguised, try not to be spotted. Find the ropes, cut them, and the army will be able to flood inside. With some luck, this plan may be able to be carried out without too much trouble...but it won't work if any of you are seen."

The gerudo's nodded. Link turned to Zelda, Saja, Malon and Darunia.

"You guys are coming with me into the tower, as you know," said Link. They all looked at him determinedly, and he knew that they weren't going to back down now. They would see this through till the end.

He stared at them for a second, then shook himself.

"We have tarried too long. Arya, take them and go. Once your in the building, wait for my signal."

She nodded, drawing out her dagger, and beckoned to her warriors. They all pulled dark cloaks out of their packs on their shoulders, letting the packs drop to the ground, unneeded. Once they all had gotten the cloaks firmly on their backs and over their faces, they started off, around the city.

As the gerudo's hastened away, skirting along the black wall, Link said, "I do hope I see them again."

Zelda laid a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry, I promise that you will."

He looked back at her, smiled, then turned to Saja, Darunia and Malon.

"Let's find our way into the tower, then," Link said. They all drew their weapons, and hurried off toward the huge base of the back of Majora's Tower.

Several minutes later, they stood at the massive base of the tower, searching for an entrance inside.

"Perhaps if we could find some sort of back door he might have made it easy for us," suggested Darunia. Saja nodded, but he doubted that there was a back door.

The team split up, moving along the base, searching for a crevice or indent that would give away to a kick or a stab. They looked for well over ten minutes, and Link grew frustrated. They couldn't enter through the front, or they would be seen by Majora's legions.

Zelda suddenly lifted her head, and her arms grew rigid. Link looked hurriedly over at her, as did Saja.

"What is it?" Link asked, but at the same time, he sensed what she did. His eyes grew wide, and he raised his sword, putting his back to the wall of the tower.

"Legions! Heading this way. Everybody get on the wall and prepare to fight!" whispered Link urgently.

They all hastened to the wall. Darunia raised his huge axes, ready for battle again. Zelda readied her pyrotechnics, Saja had his twin blades out, and Malon had her own gerudo-made sword out.

Harsh shouts broke the stony silence, and they heard several of Majora's black demons coming around the bend in the tower. What they were doing back here, Link had no idea, but he knew they had to dispose of them very quickly.

As a black foot appeared, one of a moblin, Link sank his blade through the foot. The moblin was about to cry out in pain, but Link slammed his shield into it's face, standing up suddenly. The moblin tumbled backwards, and knocked several stalfos over. Behind them, six or seven of the unknown beasts Link had seen from behind the building were running at him.

Zelda leapt in front of him suddenly, releasing a blue beam of faded light. It struck one of the monsters, plowing through it's chest, leaving a sizzling hole. It fell face forward, but several more beasts came running toward them.

Zelda and Link backed up, and ran behind the tower again, toward Malon, Saja and Darunia. The team rushed to face the other beasts. They rammed into the things with all of their efforts. Saja managed to sink both blades through the chest of one before it could let out a warcry, then yanked the scarlet blades out and attacked another. Darunia and Malon with their combined efforts rent one to pieces with their weapons, then turned to see Zelda blast two at once with her beams. It took three or four shots to bring both beasts down. Link dispatched another beast with a thrust through the heart, but was not quick enough to turn around and block the final beast rearing up to strike down on his head...

"YAAH!" roared Darunia, hurtling one of his huge axes through the air. It sank deep into the beasts back. It howled, moaned, then dropped to the ground.

This quick yet intense battle left them all with tense arms and coiled muscles. Darunia walked forward to pull his axe out of the beasts back. They watched as he yanked at it, then pulled and groaned as his muscles bulged with the effort of pulling it out. But the axe had sunk too deep into the black armor.

Snarling, the goron grew angry, and swung the dead body around through the air in a big arc, smashing it into the wall of the tower. The wall that the body slammed into crumpled in the shape of an oval, leaving a clear opening, sucking in the smoky outside air.

It was complete blackness through the hole, and they all hesitated, staring at the suspicious hole.

"Must have been a weak section in the wall," noted Malon. They all stared at it, still slightly dazed from the battle, then Saja and Link started forward, and jumped through the hole. The others quickly followed.

As they walked into the darkness, Link called out with his mind, linking it with Arya's.

Arya was in a small building relatively close to the gate of the city. They were wearing cloaks around themselves, and were sitting at a bar, their faces covered. Arya lifted her head slightly when she felt waves of mind power race through her head...

i We're in. Get moving. /I 


	14. Battle for Hyrule

Chapter fourteen: Battle for Hyrule

It all happened within a matter of seconds.

Arya threw her cloak off of her, followed by the rest of her gerudo's, and they hurtled several daggers around the bar, thumping through black flesh, followed by the accompany of a heavy thud as the bodies hit the floor around them.

The bartender tried to duck behind the bar, but Arya leapt over the bar in a single bound, and slashed at the legion's neck. The severed head rolled off it's shoulders and onto the floor.

They all looked at the mess they had created. There were plenty bodies for them all to get a uniform, so they dragged all the bodies behind the bar, stripped several of them, and put their clothes on over their own golden armor. They had some trouble getting the tattered rags onto themselves, but it proved possible. At least it would give them some disguise when they went outside. They made sure to keep their faces covered.

"Don't say a word," warned Arya to the rest of the gerudo's. "As long as we don't talk and you all just follow my lead, the army can get in without trouble, and we can help Link."

She pushed the door open, and they all strode out into the Market, crowded with legions in every direction.

They hurriedly pushed into the crowd so as not to be seen by the great Tower looming above them. If Majora happened to spot them, they were done for.

The entire crowd they were surrounded by only stole them a glance before fading into the mass. Nobody paid them attention, for which they were grateful. As they proceeded slowly toward the ropes of the drawbridge, Arya accidentally ran into one of the towering monsters. It grunted as they bumped, then grabbed Arya's rag covered shoulders and pulled her in front of it, it's brutish face twisted in anger and annoyance.

"Watch where you're going!" yelled the huge beast, snarling at her face. Saliva dripped from it's mouth in great tendrils and ran down it's chin. Disgusted, she shoved the monster off of her, not really thinking about what she was doing.

The legion growled deeply and gutturally, and ran at her, unsheathing it's huge sword from it's back. Not wanting to draw attention to their small group, Arya drew out a small dagger and drove it through the legions stomach as soon as it came within three feet of her. She let go of the dagger, and pushed the legion over, striding further into the crowd, toward the ropes. The group immediately ran after her, trampling over the dying minion. The blood of the beast ran in between the cracks of the cobblestone street, and the other legions, rather than helping out their companion, merely laughed at it as it slowly closed it's eyes for eternity.

The disguised gerudo's pushed through the crowd for another ten minutes without any more interruptions. When they finally emerged onto the edge of the market, they had to look around for a second to realize where they were, for the black buildings distorted most of the former town.

They were twenty feet from the closed bridge, with the regular black buildings on either side of them. The crowd was to their backs, and only a few legion guards stood over the doors that led to the ropes they had to cut. They would present a thorny problem, but Arya knew that they could be dealt with easily enough, as long as there weren't too many witnesses...better yet if there weren't any at all.

The warriors made their way casually behind a black building next to the doors to the ropes. The guards paid them little to no attention. When they had circled behind the black building and were behind the guards, Arya motioned for the rest of the gerudo's to stay behind the building.

She crept forward between the two structures, and came up behind the guard, whispering to it in the deepest voice she could muster.

"Please, help me! My friend back here cut himself rather badly, and needs medical attention! Come help me with his wound!"

This was rather a feeble story, but the best one Arya could come up with at the moment. The guard looked down at her, it's face twisted into a snarl, as all of the legions seemed to do.

"Don't give me that shit," said the guard. "Your 'friend' can bleed to death for all I care. As if we need any more 'a these bastards in this corrupted city anyways."

"Don't you dare talk to me like that! Get your ass back here right now before I stick this blade in your gut!" threatened Arya, drawing out her gerudo blade and holding it against the guards throat.

The other guard did nothing to stop this dispute. Apparently, it was a normal thing for the legions to die in the city. It simply rolled it's eyes and turned the other way.

The legion that Arya was threatening threw her off him and drew it's own huge sword, advancing on her down the alleyway. This was all she needed...to lure the ugly brute where nobody would see him.

The legion swung it's sword hard at her neck, but the swing was slow and dull witted, and she easily ducked it. She stabbed it through the shoulder, then grabbed it by the wrist and swung it into the alley wall. Holding it's sword hand up, she stabbed it repeatedly in the chest and stomach, till it's body went slack, and she felt it's pulse stop. She let the demon go, and it collapsed like a ruddy bag onto the ground.

Running back up to the opening to the street, she seized the other guard legion by the shoulder and yanked it back into the alley. Before it could do anything to stop her, she placed the point of the sword on it's mid section, then spun it violently around, ripping it's top half off in a flurry of blood, splattering the dark walls of the alley with the sticky liquid.

"Clear," she whispered.

The team of gerudo's crept out from behind the building, and stared down at the two ravaged bodies lying on the ground before them. Most of them were slightly surprised by this, not expecting such carnage, but they all knew that in a few minutes, the entire fortress would be filled with huge carnage.

Arya led the group out into the street, opened the door that the guards had previously been guarding, and ushered the gerudo's inside, closing the door behind them once they were all in.

They were in a small room, completely and totally unremarkable. The walls were smooth black marble, a couple old jars were piled around the corners, and some storage boxes were scattered in some places. All the room contained were two three foot thick ropes that extended diagonally from high in the wall and down to the middle of the room, into the floor. These were the ropes holding the bridge up––and these were the ropes they had to cut.

Once both ropes are cut, get out into the streets and fight for all you're worth. Beyond that, those are the final orders I'm giving you before this is all over."

The warriors all ripped the filthy rags off of themselves, and nodded, muttering "yes, Arya," and "yes, milady."

Arya ripped the rags off of her in one smooth motion with one hand, revealing her golden flanged outlandish armor that gleamed in the dull light filtering through the one window set high up on the wall, giving them a view of the black gate. They all walked forward, and tore and hacked at the gate with their swords. They needed all of their swords, for the ropes were huge, burly thick, and strong, refusing to snap. It took them nearly ten minutes just to get halfway through the first rope. The rope finally did snap, and the rest of it flew up through the wall, making a loud, rattling noise as it did. It disappeared through the hole in the wall where it had extended. Arya was worried that any legion could have heard it, and frantically began cutting through the final rope. The gate between calm and chaos.

Sixteen minutes later, the final rope snapped through the wall, rattling loudly. Every single gerudo in the room looked up at the high window, and bosh saw and heard the gate slowly creaking, falling downward to admit the weary traveler. But this was nothing like the usual opening like they had once been in Hylia City. The gate was out of control, and it fell rapidly, slamming down hard onto the ground, over the moat, and onto the grass.

Less than two seconds after the huge slam of the gate sounded, they heard an increasing roar, and fierce warcries, Nabooru's voice clear among the huge throng, accompanied by the thumping of feet and the drawing of weapons and twang of bows. Five seconds after the roar started, an even louder bellow erupted from the market, and more thumping and unsheathing of weapons were clear.

And Arya now knew––the carnage was about to increase tenfold.

Link, Saja, Malon, Darunia and Zelda all sprinted along the dark and dank hallways of Majora's Tower. The oppressing silence was weighing down upon them heavily, but they held their heads high and kept moving, aware that ever second wasted gave Majora another chance to destroy Hyrule.

They heard a distant roar, and the clashing of thousands of weapons, and Link whispered, still running full out, "the army is inside the city. We must move quicker. Majora might leave to fight with the army himself. He has the power to kill them all."

With Link's cautioning words, they moved as fast as they could while still clutching their weapons. The silence was extremely unnerving, as was the lack of security that had so far been nonexistent. They had not run into a single legion since they entered the Tower. Link knew that there must be a reason for this... or perhaps Majora knew of their entry, and was simply toying with them. This was a distinct possibility, but Link did not trust himself to even think about predicting Majora, and kept his mind open to all.

They finally reached the end of the corridor after ten minutes of running, and found themselves at a single, unremarkable dark wooden door. It had a design cut into the handle, what seemed to be a whirlpool with a group of people being sucked in. It was drawn with master percision, and didn't stray from the drawing for even an inch. The marksmanship was fantastic, but they paid no attention to the woodwork, focusing on the task at hand.

"Be careful," cautioned Saja as they stepped up to the door and grasped the handle. "Be prepared for anything."

Link nodded, and Saja twisted the handle, pushing the door open with a slight creak.

They ran inside instantly, into complete and utter darkness. Malon strained her eyes, trying to see something in the darkness, but it was impossible. They also felt a curious tingling sensation around them, something they had never felt before. They seemed to be floating slowly away from the doorway... Link turned his head, and saw the patch of rectangular light that was the door slowly floating away. A second later, it slammed shut, echoing through the desolate space. The tingling grew stronger, and they all felt their worries slip away from them. It was unimportant where they were. The tingling was accompanied by a deep cold, a stifling pillow of freezing air that pressed in on them in the strange room.

Zelda and Malon looked at each other through the darkness, and smiled blissfully, neither knowing what was going on, what they were stepping into.

Link looked up unseeingly, knowing not where he was. He remembered vaguely that they were in a Tower of some sort... but it didn't matter to him. All that mattered was that he stay in this room for as long as possible. He felt as though he were drifting in a river... a cold river. But he knew there was no river.

Or was there? When he looked down at his feet he saw only darkness, but whenever he looked up, out of the corner of his eye he saw flowing water reaching up to his knees. He felt waves rolling around his ankles. The tingling increased, and his curiosity grew, though he still feared nothing. Stars sparkled everywhere, and a faint tangible odor filled the air. He looked at his sword, and saw that the blade was twisting and bending, undulating at impossible angles for steel. The hilt had become lined with sharp red spikes, and a blinking eye now stared at him from the base of the handle. Link stared at it, transfixed by what he was seeing.

Then everything changed... and Link was no longer shrouded in the deep darkness. He stood on the peak of a tall mountain, in an unknonwn land. The sky above him was red, black clouds billowed angrily across the sky, lightning lanced violently through the darkness, lighting up the crest where he stood. Link looked down at his sword, and saw that it was now normal again. He breathed deeply, and looked across the peak.

A tall, black figure approached steadily, holding two gigantic swords. The man was three feet taller than Link was, had long red hair that curved down into ugly sideburns on the sides of his head, and was dressed in black garments with gerudo insignia's written on them in golden ink. Link realized almost at once who this man was. There was no explaining it, he had no idea how it had happened, or why they were there, but he knew that it didn't matter. What did matter was that Ganondorf was free, and was walking toward him, clearly intent on killing him.

But although Link saw Ganondorf, it was not he. It was Saja, the warrior that he knew well. But Saja did not see Link either. Instead of seeing the Hero of Time, he saw Rahaja, the enemy he had killed so many years ago after he had murdered his wife.

Both warriors walked toward each other, unbeknownst that they were fighting friends. Link raised his sword above his head, gritting his teeth, preparing to fight. Saja saw Rahaja raise his sword, and he in turn raised both his swords above his head. The two friends charged at each other, screaming out warcries.

Zelda, Darunia and Malon saw each other as they were. They stood on one side of the peak, watching the two rush toward each other. All three saw Link about to rush to Ganondorf and combat him, and all three were terribly afraid.

Link swung his sword hard at Ganondorf's head, and the huge man blocked it with his sword, stabbing out viciously in turn. Link caught it on his shield just in time, but the hit sent a stab of pain through his arm. Growling, he swept his shield around, and his sword at the same time. Both fighters battled fiercely, back and forth across the clearing. Saja was cut repeatedly across the face, arms and legs, and was getting slammed with the shield periodically, but he seemed to be inflicting wounds upon Rahaja too. Link felt the two swords of Ganondorf biting into his flesh, and it only fueled his anger at him. He fought even harder, and Saja fought even harder.

Link suddenly became aware that he was being slowly pushed toward the edge of the peak. He could not allow himself to be cornered, or Ganondorf could easily knock him off. Fighting harder and harder, sweat beading on his face mixing with his own blood, Link tried desperately to push his enemy back.

Saja realized he was pushing his enemy back toward the peak, and decided to use magic to deliver a crushing blow. Calling upon his magic, he concentrated hard on the realm of magic, and felt power rush into his fist. He drew the fist back, still clutching the sword, and threw it forward, toward Rahaja's growling face.

Link instinctively lifted his shield, but the force of the punch was overpowering. The shield shattered like a pane of glass, fragments of metal flying everywhere, sticking into the stone of the peak. Link cried out in pain, and dropped the small piece of the shield he was still holding. His hand was smoking from the magic that Ganondorf had just conjured. He yelled out even more angrily, and elbowed Ganondorf in the stomach. Saja yelled as the wind rushed out of him. Link seized Ganondorf and swung him around, so that Ganondorf was now cornered on the edge of the cliff. With one tremendous kick, Link knocked Ganondorf over the edge...

And Saja fell against a transparent wall.

The clear air behind him seemed to be normal enough, but he leaned against it with ease.

"A wall?" he whispered, confused. Both fighters stopped for a second, staring in puzzlement at the strange sight.

And then it all flooded back into Link's mind. Hyrule, Majora's Tower, the battle raging below in the market... they were in an illusion. I An illusion! /I 

"IT'S AN ILLUSION!" shouted Link, trying to make them all hear. He could make out Zelda, Malon and Darunia standing side by side. They didn't appear to hear him, until he shouted it three times. "ILLUSION! ILLUSION! ILLUSION!"

Even as he said it, he saw Ganondorf's form changing back into a smaller form... a mortal man... Saja. And Saja also saw Rahaja's form returning to Link's body.

"Link!" gasped Saja in amazement, his confused mind trying to grapple with this impossibility. Link looked at Saja, and said "It is an illusion, Saja! Fight for it! Return to life!"

Saja shakily nodded, suddenly remembering the trouble they now faced. He chanted it quietly to himself. "An illusion. An illusion..."

The red sky above them turned completely black, and the clouds and lightning dissapeared. The edges of the peak transformed back into solid black wall, and the rocky ground beneath them molded to flat iron.

They were back in Majora's Tower.

Link, who stood by Saja, gasped and slumped down to the cold floor. Saja likewise collapsed, both exhausted, bruised, and bloody from the battle. They lay there, panting, shining with blood and sweat, until Zelda, Malon and Darunia rushed over. Zelda seized Link and pulled him close to her, saying "oh Link! We're so sorry! We didn't have any idea what was going on... we saw you but we couldn't move... I'm so sorry!"

Malon too was muttering her apologies to Saja, but both men replied the same way, "don't worry about it. It couldn't have been helped. Don't worry about us!"

Darunia helped Saja to his feet, saying "I'm sorry too. Had I known what was going on..."

Saja smiled, patting the old goron on the shoulder. "Forget about it, Darunia. It couldn't have been helped."

After a few minutes of resting, Link whispered hoarsely, "let's go. We cannot waste time."

And they ran toward the door, continuing deeper into the tower of evil.

All was a living hell down in the market.

The gerudo's had begun to spread out through the entire city, leaking through small side streets, down through main roads, everywhere in the city, they were flooding, and everywhere they were being combated and slaughtered by the legions.

Some of the legions army were gathered at the front of Majora's Tower, awaiting the moment when the gerudo's would attack them full force, and it would become an all out war.

Arya and Nabooru were crouched behind a slab of building that had been blasted apart from a bomb thrown by a legion. Several bombs were being shot out of canons from rooftops by legions who knew how to operate them.

"MILADY, WE CANNOT WIN THIS FIGHT THROUGH STRENGTH OF ARMS! WE NEED MORE HELP!" she yelled over the booming of canons, twang of arrows and clashing of weapons.

"I HAVE ALREADY SENT RUNNERS TO THE ZORA," replied Nabooru, loosing a shaft at a legion above them manning a canon. The legion was struck in the side of the head and toppled off the roof, landing with a sickening thump in front of them, where they heard it's spine shatter. "BUT I FEAR THAT WE ARE ALREADY TOO LATE. THE ZORA'S CAN COME FAST ENOUGH, BUT BY THAT TIME WE MIGHT ALREADY BE DEAD."

"I WILL NOT HEAR THAT KIND OF TALK FROM MY COMMANDER!" yelled Arya. "WE FIGHT TO DEATH OR VICTORY, IT NEED NOT MAKE A DIFFERENCE!"

She leapt from behind the loose slab of building and swung her weapon around, smashing weapons with an oncoming legion. Twelve more were behind it, but they were quickly brought down by a hail of arrows from a nearby rooftop full of gerudo's. Arya stabbed forward, through the stomach of the legion, then pushed it aside and ran down a narrow alleyway, determined to get on a rooftop and stop the canon's.

Nabooru, now alone in the middle of the battle, leapt out also, loosing several arrows at many legions scattered about the burning wreckage of the main square. The main square was totally demolished by now. The fountain was broken and water was flooded everywhere, sections of destroyed building were littered about, some of them still flaming, and the cobblestone street was broken apart by the impact of the bombs that were constantly being shot into the ground at running townsfolk or gerudo's. The entire battlefield had sent up a repulsive smog that hung over the place, obscuring the sky.

Nabooru looked up at the nearest building, and saw three canons jutting out of the windows, firing rapidly. She seized a bomb out of her own bag, and threw it with all of her might, through the window nearest her. There was an earsplitting explosion, and three corpses of legions flew out of the window a second later, launching all the way across the main square.

Nabooru smiled at her success, but screamed a second later as a canon went off, and the ground two feet from her exploded in a brilliant flame of red and yellow. She flew through the air, flailing, and landed down hard on her back, sending pain shooting through her body. She screamed in agony, and lay there for a second, panting, sweat beading her brow. Then she heard another muffled boom of a canon, and rolled to the side. The ground where she had just been laying shot up everywhere in flame. With difficulty, she pulled herself to her feet, limping slightly, and dodged behind a building just as another boom sounded in the distance, and a section of the building she had dodged behind blew off in a shower of debris.

"Damn it!" she cursed to herself, checking her leg. Blood leaked from a very nasty gash just below her right kneecap. She cursed her enemies again, then limped down a side alley, determined like Arya to get up on the rooftops and turn the canons to their side.

The gerudo's fought galliantly, but they were slowly being pushed back to the central square from the streets. The legions were crowding through the alley, overpowering several of the warriors. Hundreds of gerudo's were forced to flee back into the central square. They crowded out into the open, brandishing swords, shields, staves, poleaxes, and several other manner of gore weapons, though their hands shook in fear of their impending doom.

As the legions crowded in on all sides, scuffles echoed across the battlefield from a nearby rooftop, and a lone legion flew from a building roof, apparently thrown off. He landed down on the street between the gerudo's and the legions army. Arya emerged behind a cannon, and grinned devilishly. Twisting the canon around, she fired it several times into the legion army, shooting bodies everywhere into the air. She then tilted the destructive weapon up, and shot down several enemy canon's.

As soon as the legions realized that the canons were being turned over, they ran at the cornered group of gerudo's. Arya fired several bombs down into the legions, and thinned the crowd dramatically. But it was simply not enough to hold back the storm of evil beings. The legions and gerudo's clashed together, and a defining roar broke from the battle below. Arya continued firing bombs, sending putrid smog up into the already filthy foggy air.

Arya could not see through the fog, but on surrounding rooftops, several legions had arisen again, and held humongous metal, serrated, spiked discs the size of hubcaps. They were heaved into the crowd fighting below, goring and slicing through both gerudo and legion bodies. The terrible discs stained with fresh blood, and rolled sinisterly through the battle at high speeds, slashing through ten warriors and legions at a time. The discs mixed with the canonfire made the battlefield down below the rooftops even more treacherous and impossible to survive out in for long.

Nabooru emerged onto a rooftop from a trapdoor, behind one of the legions hurtling the horrible death discs. She crept up behind him, stepping gingerly down on her injured leg, and when she got close enough, drew herself up and forced the blade through the legions back just as it was about to heave another disc out into the crowd. He gasped, his echo drowned out by the intense combat raging below, and fell to the side as Nabooru withdrew her already bloody sword. Glaring down at the body, she spat on it contemptuously, then seized a metal disc and flung it directly below the building, right into the huge crowd of only legions. Screams punctured the already charged air of war, and Nabooru worked faster, throwing down as many discs as she could into the crowd. Hundreds of legions were cut to shreds by the beastly contraptions, and they were too stupid to realize what was really happening right above their heads.

After several minutes of intense fighting down below and throwing the metal discs of death into the crowd, Nabooru looked up, peering at the surrounding rooftops where the legion gunners had been. She saw many gerudo's now doing the same thing she was doing, and a single gerudo on every rooftop shooting the canons down into the legions ruthlessly, sending their mangled bodies into the air and back down to the ground again. The echo of the guns going off echoed louder than ever now, drowning out the screams and shouts on the battlefield below.

Five more minutes passed in this manner, until Nabooru heard an even bigger roar, now coming out louder than the firing canons nearby. She rushed to the edge of the rooftop and peered down into the alleyways. Hundreds of gerudo's were pouring out into the battlefield, the reinforcements that had spread out across the city. I The gerudo's that spread out across the city! /I she realized with excitement. They had beaten the legions in the buildings, and now they had come to assist the fight here. As the gerudo's poured out everywhere into the market, cornering the legion army between both gerudo armies. The inside army of gerudo's heard the increasing yell, but it was impossible for them to see what was going on on the outside.

Regardless, Nabooru grinned, legion blood sliding down her face and into her mouth. She wiped it away, but still smiled. They were routing the final wave of the legion army! Link's plan had worked, for the time being.

I But what of the even bigger problem at the top of the tower? /I she wondered, and looked up through the fog of war, up at Majora's Tower. The red sky above it was seething as usual, which must've meant that Majora still lived. She wondered to herself, and hoped against hope that Link and the others were still alive in there.

Something about the sky above the tower caught her attention, and she looked up again. The clouds seemed to be thickening... they seemed darker than before... and they were moving faster. She cocked an eyebrow.

"It's going to rain," she thought aloud. Night was approaching quickly, the time when evil was most powerful. Her fears returned, and the grin disappeared from her face. Link had to kill Majora, fast.

Link, Saja, Darunia, Zelda and Malon all stood in awe, in the room beyond the illusion room. They had just passed to the next chamber, and found themselves in the entranceway... of the Temple of Time.

A hole had been torn into the side of it, and they assumed it led to the next chamber of the tower. Rocks and tapestry littered the floor by it, but apart from that hole, the temple still stood.

Link shook his head in amazement, tracing a finger along the white marble walls, his eyes wide with amazement. Majora hadn't been able to destroy this... the final alter between light and dark. The outpost of the goddesses was still standing, and they were in it.

"The Master Sword," Zelda said quietly, "It's still in here."

Saja looked over at Link cautiously, not wanting to interfear with his thinking, for he seemed to be deep in thought. His eyes were closed, and his head was rested against the marble walls. Several thoughts ran through his brain.

He had figured it out back at Gerudo Fortress, but until now he hadn't trusted his thoughts, from how muddled Majora had already made them. But now, standing back in the Temple of Time, he was forced to discard all other thoughts and believe what his eyes and thoughts were telling him. His eyes popped open abruptly, and his head slowly turned toward the Door of Time.

It still stood open... how, he did not know, but he had a suspicion that the goddesses had used the last remains of their power against Majora, and opened it for him. All clues pointed to his suspicions, and he shook his head, as though it actually hurt to be inside his head.

"I... I have to... to take the Master Sword."

Saja's eyes almost at once grew wide. He lowered his swords, and said incredulously, "are you sure? The Sacred Blade was meant for Ganondorf... "

"Of course I'm sure," said Link impatiently. "The Sword of Evil's Bane was meant to cast down evil, and I don't really think that Majora could get more evil than he already is."

He strode forward, his boots echoing softly on the marble white floor, as though afraid to make too much sound in such a sacred place. Zelda hurried after him, as well as Darunia, but Malon and Saja stayed back, both knowing that they had no right to enter the Door of Time.

Link hurried up around the alter, and rushed through the huge opening, into the big chamber. On a rise over the floor, stuck into the Pedestal of Time, there it gleamed. It had not changed since Link had last used it. The Master Sword shone gladly, reacting to the evil surrounding the temple. Link ran up the stairs and right up to it. The pure good radiating from it seemed like a bug in a spider web compared to the evil around them. Zelda and Darunia came to his side, looking down at the beautiful weapon with awe. None of the three had seen it for many many years.

Link continued to stare at it, until he felt a huge warm hand lay on his shoulder gently. He looked up at Darunia's huge face, his black eyes staring down at him with sympathy.

"Do it, brother," he said softly. "It needs to be done. Hyrule needs it back."

Link nodded, patting Darunia on his back. He turned to Zelda, and she nodded. Looking back down, and not wanting to waste any more time, he grasped the blue hilt of the sword, feeling it's good rush into his fingers, and yanked sharply.

The sword came free with a slight wrench, sparks flying from the pedestal.

Link looked at it, puzzled. Nothing had happened, no light, no shining, nothing. He had simply yanked it out... why was that?

"You aren't ten years old," Zelda reminded him with a smile. Link grinned, remembering his foolish mistake.

"Ah yes, although it feels that way now," he said. He unsheathed his sword, and lay it against the wall gently. He stuck The Master Sword into his sheathe instead, then turned, and the three proceeded back to Malon and Saja, getting ready to go deeper into the tower.

The group rushed up what must have been the fortieth flight of stairs. They had come to the main stair of Majora's Tower, right outside the Temple of Time, and it was huge. They had been trudging up it for the past half hour, and were now breathless. But Link also knew what Nabooru did. Night was approaching quickly, and Majora would be more powerful than ever.

Zelda, who was similarly breathless, looked up, sweeping a strand of hair out of her eyes. She saw that the door to the top of the tower was drawing close, and her heart thumped madly. She prepared her powers, and said "we're getting to the top! Get prepared."

Link heard her words as if they were from a different lifetime. He was exhausted, cut up from the battle down below in the illusion room, and just wanted more than anything to rest. But he shook these thoughts from his mind at once. The final moments of conflict were drawing close, and this was the only chance they had to save Hyrule. He was not going to throw himself down, now.

They rounded the final stair, ran up the last fifty feet of stairs, and found themselves in front of a relatively large door, roped with chains. It had several ancient carvings engraved on it's wooden surface, and radiated a sense of power.

"The Sapphires," whispered Saja, bending over to catch his breath. He wiped a drop of sweat from his forehead, and whispered even quieter, "they are beyond this door."

Link nodded, readying The Master Sword in his hand. Zelda charged her hands up, glowing with a numbus of blue light. Saja prepared both his blades, Malon her gerudo blade, and Darunia his axes.

Then Link raised The Master Sword above his head, and brought it down hard on the chains. An inch before the sword made contact, the chains sizzled and snapped apart, falling off the stairs and down deep into the towers depths. Link was slightly surprised by this, but just shook his head, and grasped the door handle. His heart thumped so hard that he felt it might burst out of his chest. He tried to breath regularly, but it was impossible. He sucked in all his air, turned the handle, kicked the door open, and they all rushed inside.

There was a split second for Link to see what the room looked like... It was small and square, perfectly unremarkable. There was a staircase leading up to the roof of the tower across the room. The Three Sapphire's lay on a jutted up piece of stone in the very center of the room, glowing ominously. A split second after everyone registered this, a sword whistled toward them. Nobody had time to react, for it was moving too fast, and they simply stared in fear as it raced past their faces, and stuck through Darunia's chest with a dull thump. Darunia gasped, his eyes growing wide with surprise. He dropped his axes from nerveless fingers, and fell to his knees. Link screamed out his name, also dropping his weapons. With shaking hands, he seized his brother, and lay him down on the floor gingerly, trying not to make anything worse.

Majora stood in front of the staircase to the rooftop of the tower. He grinned, and lowered a hand. He had thrown the sword as hard as he could as soon as the door had opened, and now smiled in success, his pointed teeth snarling out a grim challenge.

"I see I have taken down yet another one of your...friends... " hissed Majora, smiling terribly. He was about to say something more, when he looked down, and saw The Master Sword lying next to Link's feet. He hissed, jumping back, then turned, and took off up the stairs, slamming the door open, and rushing up onto the roof of the tower, leaving the friends to tend to Darunia.

"Brother," Link gasped, his voice trembling in fear. "Please, try to hold on, we're going to save you."

"N... no.." whispered Darunia. His eyes were squinted open, and they were barely focused on Link. Zelda, Malon and Saja knelt down beside him. "It is too late for me, brother."

"Don't talk like that!" gasped Link, tears falling from his eyes and rolling down his cheek's. "We're going to save you! Please, hold on!"

Darunia grimaced, then smiled as he fixed his gaze on the sword lodged in his chest. He looked back up at Link, and raised a huge shaking hand. Link grasped it, tears flowing freely.

"I have come as far as I can go, brother," he said, barely above a whisper. "I have done all that I could do. Now you have to finish it... "

"No," sobbed Link, his whole body now shaking as he cradled him. "I can't do it without you. Brother, you can't die, you can't!"

"It is the way of things," said Darunia. "I must go now. My time has been spent."

Link sobbed even harder, and reached with a shaking hand toward the sword. "No," said Darunia softly. "Leave it. It does not matter anymore."

Link gripped his hand even tighter, as though hoping he could hold Darunia in life. Link stared down through his tears at Darunia's dimming eyes, the black beady eyes he had come to know over the many years they had been brothers together.

"It's my fault," he choked out between sobs. "I should never have come to you that morning. I shouldn't have dragged you into this! I shouldn't have made you come with me!"

"You didn't make me come with you," Darunia insisted, his voice growing quieter and quieter as he slowly slipped away. "I chose it. And I do not regret it. It was my choice, and it was the right one. I am glad that I helped you, brother. This was my fate, and I have accepted it."

Zelda cried freely now, too. She stared down at his fading sight, and closed her mouth tightly, lips trembling.

"I am honored to have known you, brother," said Darunia. "And I am honored to have known you all." he gestured weakly at Saja, Malon and Zelda, then his hand rested at his side. Link pushed his arms into a crossed position above the sword. Darunia looked up at him, and smiled weakly.

"We ride together... we die together... I will be your brother forever."

A whisper of breath left his parted lips. He closed his eyes, and died. Link felt the life leave him, and the hand he still clutched went limp in his.

Tears fell down harder from his eyes, and he hugged him, sobs racking his body. He had not cried since he was nine years old, and now he felt as though he would cry for the rest of his life.

Then, with shaking hands, he stood, resting Darunia's body on the stone floor. He seized The Master Sword, and his shield, and strode over to The Three Sapphire's. He pocketed them each, and his eyes blazed fiery green. His Triforce combined with the sapphire's, and he strode toward the stairs, looking back at everyone, and Darunia's body.

"Stay here. I'll be back in a minute," he whispered, then ascended the stairs, punched the door open, and walked out onto the rooftop of Majora's Tower, ready to face his wrath in full.


	15. Majora's Wrath

Chapter fifteen: Majora's Wrath

The oiled door flew off it's hinges as Link's fist made contact with it, spinning out into the air. The Hero of Time emerged out into the rain, on top of Majora's Tower, holding The Master Sword in both hands. Since his shield had been destroyed by Saja's magic, he had only the sword for protection now.

Majora stood in the middle of the large arena. The rain pounding down from the black sky above them poured down his ghastly face, and his completely white eyes were shining with controlled malice... he looked ready to tear Link to pieces, which he intended on doing.

The clouds above them were so dark that the entire world around them made it appear to be the middle of night. Though Link knew the hour was late, night had not become dark yet... these clouds had been made by the forces of evil.

The entire rooftop, which was about thirty feet wide in all directions, had crates strewn all over. Body parts hung out of the top... legions body parts. Some still even clutched swords. Link realized through his anger and pain that Majora had killed them for his own amusement.

"Welcome back, Hero of Time," said Majora, his snake-like tongue poking out of his mouth. He clutched only one sword, like Link. "I suppose you have come to kill me, have you?"

"You will pay for Darunia's death, Majora," Link yelled over the crackling of thunder above them. The rain pounded down harder than ever, and Majora only smiled in response. He raised a hand, long, spidery fingers groping, and a sword shot out from where Link had just emerged from. The sword that had impaled Darunia whizzed out from behind Link and raced through the air, flinging droplets of blood onto the ground, where they were quickly washed away by the rain. Majora caught it, and swung both his dual blades around, smiling sinisterly.

"Two against one, I'm afraid," he grinned.

"You fucking bastard!" screamed Link, his eyes glowing so intensely that had anyone been looking, they would have been instantly blinded. "How can you do this! How can you just kill someone and feel nothing for other people's suffering!"

"Death is what I do, hero," snarled Majora. "If you must know, I quite enjoy the taste of blood... and I quite enjoy watching people die. I enjoyed it especially when I killed that Fire Sage. His death was one I had been planning for a long time. Since I met you two out on the fields those many many weeks ago."

Majora twirled his swords expertly, and said "if you want to fight me, then come get it."

"I'LL KILL YOU!" hollered Link, and he ran forward, swinging The Master Sword around, putting all his pain and rage into the swing. Majora blocked the swing, and Link felt a foot connect with his stomach. He doubled over as the wind flew out of him, then gasped in pain as a sword lashed across his face, cutting from the top of his right cheek to the top of his neck. Blood flew from his face, and he fell back, yelling in agony. Majora towered above him, grinning. He looked down at the blood still crusting the blade from Darunia's body, then licked it, slurping the blood off, his eyes wide, as though enjoying every second of it.

This caused Link's anger to reach such a ferocious level that the pure magic of the Triforce and the Sapphires picked him up from the ground and drove him forward at Majora. The tyrant blocked every swing that came at him, and he only smiled, completely at ease. His arms moved in a flurry as Link pulled out all the stops, recklessly combining and modifying his moves. But to no avail... Majora would not make an opening for him.

Pain suddenly erupted on both sides of Link's face, and he gasped as he saw the sword pull away, blood flying from their surfaces. He stumbled backward, clutching two deep cuts across his face.

"If you refuse to even make this fun, we can end it right now," whispered Majora's malicious voice. Link looked up, only to see that he had disappeared...

Ignoring the deep slashes across his face, Link stumbled over to a crate, and grabbed a sword from a dead legions hand. Now wielding both swords, he looked around, searching for the incarnate's evil features. In his mind, he knew that mere physical blows would not hamper Majora. Zelda's pyrotechnik beams were their best bet as of now. He could not defeat Majora on his own.

"ZELDA!" he called, knowing even as he said her name that he was putting the woman he loved more than anything into danger. But he had no choice. His anger at Majora overpowered him at the moment.

As soon as her name left his lips, however, a flash of lightning briefly illuminated their surroundings, and he looked up to see a flicker of movement.

A second later, two fists slammed his stomach and mouth, and he flew over ten feet, landing back down on the wet ground, crying out in agony as pain lanced through his body. The vile face of Majora appeared through the darkness, stalking toward him steadily, bloody swords raised, ready to deal a death blow...

Bright blue light flashed, and an enormous BANG went off in Link's ears. Majora hurtled backward, surprise coloring his face as he was thrown through the air.

Zelda had appeared up on the roof of the tower. She rushed over to Link, and pulled his rain drenched body to his feet. She noted the deep slashes across his face with sympathy, but saved her comments. Their real problem was in front of them.

Link and Zelda stood side by side, facing the demon incarnate that was slowly rising back up, still clutching his blades.

"Ah, another subject to toy with... "

His body became a blur, and both Zelda and Link ducked just in time as two blades whistled above their heads, striking out viciously. Link whirled around, swinging both blades very fast. Majora stood there, but quickly stopped both of his blades. He was about to move them aside and stab through Link's chest, when another BANG went off, and he was forced to raise a sword to deflect another beam sent his way by Zelda. Link took the opprotunity to recklessly batter against Majora's sword that wasn't fighting against the hail of beams. Zelda fired quickly and accurately, knowing that this was Link's only chance to find an opening.

Even with the beams coming at him rapid fire, Majora was still managing to hold Link off. The Hero of Time brought both blades around, using a sword technique he had learnt not too long before this entire mess had started. He caught Majora's blade between both of his, moving it down and out of the way. Then, lightning fast, he slashed out at Majora's face with one sword, then the next before Majora could bring his blade back up.

Majora's high pitched scream echoed through the rain and fog as Link dealt him several cuts with his swords, and he yelled again as he was slammed hard with several of Zelda's beams. Link continued cutting across Majora's body, his rage overpowering him, making it impossible to think. All he concentrated on was the deep cuts he was inflicting upon Majora. He whirled around, bring The Master Sword around quickly, and cut extremely hard across the evil demons face. The slash cut Majora's nose clean off, and swiped across his entire face, squirting black blood everywhere. Majora screamed in agony, clutching at his face, then whipped the sword hilt around, slamming Link in the side of the head with it.

White stars popped in front of Link's eyes, and he collapsed to the surface of the tower, dazed, blinking blood from his eyes. Dimly, he saw Majora's feet leave the ground, and he saw Zelda's feet padding over to him. A second later, he felt himself being lifted up again. He could tell that blood was rolling down the side of his head, but knew that it was not a serious wound. He was still alive, but badly dazed.

Zelda, supporting him, turned to look at his face.

"Oh goddesses, Link, can you still fight?" she said, seeing all the blood smeared on his face. He just nodded, not trusting himself to speak.

They both looked around the clearing, but saw nothing but blood stained crates. The roll of thunder above them gave them no comfort. Majora was hiding.

Zelda let go of Link reluctantly, and they nodded to each other. They began walking across the rooftop, back to back. Zelda kept her hands raised, ready to ward off Majora as soon as he came into view, and Link held both of his swords up. The Master Sword was glowing with blue light, reacting to the intense evil lurking on the rooftop nearby.

An unnatural silence enveloped the rooftop. The thunder overhead was quiet, as though afraid to sound too loudly. As Zelda and Link approached a pile of crates, they thought they could hear the screams and yells from the battle miles below them.

Suddenly, lightning flared, and thunder crackled violently overhead, and the entire place was illuminated. A dark hulking mass was lit up on top of the pile of crates. Two blank white eyes pierced through the darkness from the middle of the hulking beast. A nanosecond after the lightning revealed it, the beast leapt into the air so quickly it was as though it had just disappeared, and Zelda and Link felt pain lance across their heads. Both flew into the pile of crates, smashing boards and body parts everywhere. Groaning, Link looked up through the rain, clutching Zelda at his side, and saw a terrible sight.

Majora had morphed. His body had grown monstrous, pumping with muscles. His entire body had grown to at least twice it's normal size. He was at least twelve feet tall now, and his skin had turned a devilish, demonic red. His arms were now formed into two long whips, and his head was nothing more than a lump at the top of the huge mass. His two white eyes still shone angrily, and though it did not speak, Zelda and Link both knew that it was very angry, and very ready to kill them both. It had turned into Majora's Wrath, the evil incarnate that Link had faced those many years ago inside the moon above Termina.

"GET UP!" Link yelled suddenly, realizing what Majora's Wrath was about to do. He threw Zelda from the crates and dove away just as both of the whips smashed down on the crates, breaking them apart, sending loose timber everywhere, raining down onto the dangeroud battleground.

Sliding dangerously across the slippery surface of the tower, Link held both his blades up, shaking his head to relieve the pain of getting whipped. Zelda stood several yards away, her hands raised, ready to release the spells.

Majora's whips lashed out, and Link leapt over one of the deadly tentacles. The other swung at his head, and he ducked it, but had no time to react, for the first one whipped around again, faster than concieved, and slammed him in the torso. He felt a rib crack, and was thrown several feet onto the ground, sliding yet again. Despite the terrible pain, he pulled himself up to his feet again, refusing the pain that his body sent him. He defied it, and looked up at Majora's huge being, writhing with evil power.

I _Zelda_... /I he thought frantically, his eyes whizzing around everywhere, but there was no sign of the Queen. I _Where did she go! /_I 

These panicked thoughts were quickly disuaded as Majora's whips flashed out again, just as the lightning lit up the dark sky once more. He parried many swings, and began to move slowly toward Majora's central body. The whips were long and lethal, but he hoped to parry long enough to get close enough to strike out at the enemy he hated so much. This task was much worse than he thought, as he quickly got hit several times in the sides, but still managed to stay on his feet. He moved steadily closer, and Majora increased his blows, desperate to stop him.

Link was naught but ten feet from Majora's form, his arms pumping furiously, deflecting the blows, when one of the whips came too slow, and he had a split second to react. He swung The Master Sword around, and swiped at the treacherous weapon. Majora howled in pain as Link inflicted a deep wound in the whip, and lowered the weapons for just a second.

That was all Link needed.

He dove forward stabbing out with both The Master Sword and the sword he had taken from the legions body... unfortunately, the legion sword smote upon Majora's skin before The Master Sword did. The poorly made sword melted upon contact with the evil skin of Majora, and dissolved into nothing. Link looked at it, horrified, then felt both whips slam him hard in the face, neck and shoulders. He flew over twenty feet into the air, then back down to the ground, landing right next to a pile of crates, in a pool of a legions congealed blood.

He looked up, high into the heavens above his tortured frame, through the thick rain flying down into his eyes, and saw a flash of lightning erupt right above him...

Not lightning, he realized. Zelda's beautiful form leapt from atop the crates, blasting out numerous beams. They all met their mark, striking into Majora's head in quick precesion. Majora was driven backward by the hail of magic, but then flung a whip around, slamming Zelda out of the air and into a pile of crates. She yelled in pain as she struck them. Link grew so angry at Majora that it became impossible to hold in...

Link leapt to his feet, the Sapphire's and the Triforce burning in his chest. Zelda peered up through a haze of pain to see her hero stalking toward Majora's Wrath, with only a single sword... she tried to call out to him, but her voice was gone...

Majora quickly brought Link down with a swipe at his ankles, tripping him up maliciously. Link tried to back away, but Majora held him in place on the wet surface of the tower. Then a whip came down fast, and slammed Link across the arena, to the very edge of the tower. Link lay there, panting and coughing up blood.

Then Majora landed down on top of him, pinning him to the ground with a foot...

And Link took the worst scourging he could have ever imagined.

The whips came in from all sides. Majora howled, the lightning crackled as the whips pulverised him, never ceasing their swings. He was slammed from head to toe, getting knocked senseless. He felt his bones crack underneath the hail of terrible blows, and just waited patiently for the death blow. He waited, knowing that there was nothing left. Nothing.

The gerudo's army was probably defeated, Darunia was dead, and Zelda would likely be killed too once Majora was finished with him, along with Malon and Saja. I _End it, Majora, /_I thought Link, his mind a haze of pain and suffering. I _End this unbearable strain. Let me go to the goddesses now... /_I 

I _And I'll see Darunia again..._ /I 

And then, as his body and mind filled with emotion, tears welling up in his eyes at the thought of his brothers death, Majora leapt away from Link's tortured body, hissing in pain.

A flash of blinding blue light erupted behind Majora's form, and Link saw Majora stumble, and trip over his own foot. Link rolled out of the way as Majora crashed down onto the ground.

Blinded by pain, anguish, and sorrow, Link pulled himself to his feet. The Triforce and the Sapphire's were the only things keeping him on his feet... Zelda lay on the ground, drenched in water, her face tilted up. She had fired a beam into the back of Majora's head...

Link ran forward, toward Majora, who was picking himself up again. Link saw the whips coming, but the energy burning in his chest from the Triforce and the Sapphire's was overwhelming. He parried every single swipe at his body with inhuman speed, running full tilt toward Majora. Majora's eyes widened in fear as he saw his nemesis's eyes glowing fiery green, blue and red, mixed. The goddesses were feeding him the last of their power.

Link skid to a halt ten feet from Majora, parrying every single whip sent his way. He blocked them, blood streaming down his face, his arms moving up and down in a sinuous pattern impossible to follow. Majora tried as hard as he could to slam Link away, but he could not. Majora brought both his whips toward Link's head, hoping to crush his brain in.

Link raised The Master Sword, and whirled around, cutting both whips in half. Majora yelled so loudly that the sky above him exploded in a shower of lightning and thunder. The cry of evil anguish fueled Link's spirit and will, and he whirled around one final time, calling upon the last dregs of his strength. He whipped The Master Sword through the air, and let go, collapsing to the ground.

As though watching from a second sight, he saw the sacred blade whip through the air faster than ever, cutting through the wind, fly straight and true...

And stab with a jolt, right through Majora's forehead.

A full two seconds passed, with everything completely silent.

And then there was nothing.

The entire top roof of Majora's Tower exploded in a ball of white, tearing the crates to oblivion. Majora's body was rent to pieces in the huge explosion, and the rain stopped completely, as did the lightning. All the legions down in the market disintegrated in that one second, and the last of the black buildings that had been born out of treachery disintegrated as well.

The tower began to collapse, slowly pushing in on itself, moving downward, sending dust and rubble up everywhere. The gerudo's all cheered, screaming at the top of their voices a victory croon, all except for Nabooru and Arya. They stood together, watching the final fortress of evil fall, staring through tears mixed with the rain.

"Could it be?" whispered Nabooru, hardly daring to believe her own voice. "Could Link have done it?"

Arya, blinking back tears of joy, said "I think he has, milady."

The two warriors embraced each other, sobbing in happiness and exhaustion.

As the tower fell below them, five heroes of legend stayed floating high above the wreckage of Majora's Fortress. Link, Zelda, Saja, Malon, and Darunia's body all stayed floating in the air on a sparkling cloud of white, a throne for the victorious. The red sky died, and the bright blue sky was reborn. Peaks of sun shone through, shining glorious daylight upon the survivors.

As the five heroes were slowly bored down toward the wreckage of Majora's Fortress, Saja and Malon crept across the air toward Zelda and Link. Both of them were unconscious. Zelda had her arms wrapped around Link's unconscious form, her face resting on his shoulder blades. Link still clutched The Master Sword, scarlet with Majora's blood, both his arms wrapped around Darunia's body, finally earning the right to just lay there and weep in his sleep.


	16. Back to The Light

Chapter sixteen: Back to The Light

Three days had passed since the destruction of Majora's Fortress.

Link, Zelda, Saja and Malon were all staying at Lon Lon Ranch for the time being. Talon, it turned out, had been just fine during the evil transition that took place in Hyrule over that horrible month. Although he had notced the red tinged sky, the destruction of Hylia City, the war in the market, and seen himself from his bedroom window, the top of Majora's Tower explode in a ball of fire, he still did not know exactly what had transpired over the many weeks since Link had discovered Majora's Shadow in the woods. Malon took it upon herself to tell him.

Darunia had been buried at the foot of Death Mountain by a request from Link himself. He believed it was what he would have wanted, and believed that it was for the best. The funeral had been short due to all of the things that needed taking care of at the moment in Hyrule. Chief among the tasks was that half the beings in Hyrule were banding together to help rebuild Hylia City and parts of Kakariko. Link himself had been helping nonstop, as had Zelda, Saja and Malon, though Link could not keep Darunia out of his mind. Eventually, he knew, he had to go visit his grave one last time, to clear his conscience.

All of the team members that had assisted in Majora's downfall were in a deep shock after the quick demise of the incarnate. They had gone through such terrible evil and it had ended in only a few seconds. It didn't seem possible for it to have happened so fast, but it had, and they were having a rough time trying to come back to reality and realize that it was all over for the time being. They gave themselves one day off, three days after helping nonstop to rebuild Hylia City and gather together the surviving townsfolk. It turned out that most of them were still alive, though they were in huge shock, and were having trouble coming to their senses much like they were.

Malon chose to spend the day at the ranch. She did not feel much like going back out onto Hyrule Field, or to go anywhere else for a while. She knew in her mind that she was not to go back to being a ranch girl. She had hung the gerudo sword up on the wall, and made sure that she saw it at all times, to remind herself of who she now was.

The warrior girl lay on her sofa in the living room, staring up at the ceiling. It was raining lightly outside, saturating the earth, making the fields grow green again. Although she was happy about this, she didn't care much in her mind. There seemed to be something she had missed... something that hadn't been done...

She quickly remembered, when Saja opened her door and walked inside, his deep gray eyes boring into Malon's form. She sat up slowly, and smiled at him. He wordlessly walked over, and sat down beside her, putting his arm around her.

"I'm glad you came here," she said to him. He smiled to her, and replied, "This is the only place for me to go at the moment."

"Will you return to Cylith?" she asked, a hint of pleading in her voice. Luckily, Saja didn't catch it. She prayed that he would stay in her mind.

"There is no reason for me to return there," he answered her with a slight edge to his voice. "This is the only place for me. There is much work to do before I will go anywhere, if I indeed do go anywhere. Besides," he looked down at her, and she looked up at him, puzzled. "You're here."

She smiled, warmth washing over her for that response. She was very happy that he was staying. She had grown to know him so much since they had first met that night so many weeks ago.

"I remember when I first saw you standing there in front of The Black Leaf Temple's doors," she said to him. "I was so ignorant. I didn't know half the stuff I know now, and I think both of us have come to contacts with the world a bit more."

Saja grinned. "I suppose your right," he said. "Majora's rise and fall made me realize just how important life is... we take it all for granted, when really we should be cherishing every minute of it, spending it with the one's we love... "

He looked down at her, and she looked up at him.

"I wouldn't spend my life with any other person," she said to him, very quietly. Her heart thumped madly in her chest. She felt that she should finally make her move. Enough was enough. She was done waiting, and she was going to see what happened. Her heart was ready to take a rejection.

Saja pulled her closer to him on the couch, and he said "and I would stay with you for the rest of my life, too."

Malon moved closer to him, and saw that his head was moving closer to hers. I Could it really be true? /I 

The two leaned closer to each other, wrapping their arms around each other, and kissed softly. They sat there, kissing for a few seconds, until both withdrew, putting their heads together. Saja smiled, stroking her face.

"I love you, Malon," he said gently. Her heart slowed down, and relief, and total and complete happiness enveloped her conscience.

"I love you too, Saja," she whispered. The two kissed once more, before breaking apart and hugging each other. Malon looked over his shoulder, tears in her eyes. Majora was defeated, the world was back to normal, she was a warrior woman, and Saja was in love with her as much as she had been for their entire time together. Everything seemed to be going right in her world...

But in some worlds, things weren't.

Link stood above Darunia's grave, his eyes cast downward, refusing to let tears drop from them. He looked at the grave. It read:

HERE LIES DARUNIA

WHO WAS THE FIRE SAGE OF LEGEND

A BELOVED FRIEND, AND ALLY, AND KING OF HIS PEOPLE

MAY HIS NAME LIVE ON IN GLORY.

Link had thought of no better inscription for the grave, and believed that this was the sort of treatment his sworn brother would have wanted. He knelt down next to his grave, and touched the dirt softly.

"Hello, brother," Link said gently to the grave. "Just thought I'd stop by."

There was silence, punctuated by the steady dripping of the rain around him.

"Hylia City is being rebuilt. Majora's Tower rubble has already been thrown away. We actually threw it into Hylia Lake and let it take it to the sea. Some people were against this idea, but we could think of no better way to do it."

He knew he was rambling, but he didn't know what else to say.

"Rebuilding is going along quite nicely. The ash from the black buildings has been cleared, and we're constructing the white walls of the city, and we're remaking the gate. We have all the townsfolk back, as well as the royal guard. Zelda is a little nervous around them, because, as you know, she's Queen now. She hasn't had much expirience in commanding her own army, but she'll learn, I'm sure."

He tightened his mouth, feeling tears forming in his eyes. Forcibly, he wiped them away.

"You helped us more than we could ever say," whispered Link. "Without your help, Hyrule would be rubble right now. You saved our lives more times than I want to count... I can't think of anything more that you could have done for us. Your name will go down in the legends, I'll make sure of that."

He closed his eyes, feeling them stinging. Tears dropped from them, despite his best efforts.

"I miss you, Darunia," he said through sobs. "I didn't want you to die... I should have done something for you... I should have helped you. You didn't deserve this!"

He wiped away his tears, and forced his voice to go back to normal, though it trembled in grief.

"If you ever need anything, I'm here. I will never leave you."

He clasped a hand on the grave, and whispered Darunia's final words to him.

"We rode together, we died together. And we will be brothers forever."

"Link," whispered a feminine voice. Link looked up through the rain, and saw Zelda walking toward him. He quickly tried to hide the fact that he had been crying as she approached. She knelt down beside him, and put her arms around him, looking at Darunia's grave.

"It's truly over," Zelda said, more to herself than Link. She rested her head on his shoulder, and he nodded mutely.

"We survived through such evil, and Darunia made it all the way to the end... why did he have to die like that?"

Zelda just kissed his cheek and rubbed his arms comfortingly. "The goddesses have chosen each's fate. Things can't have turned out any other way.

Link turned to her, and put his arms around her. The two hugged each other tightly, and Link made sure that his eyes were dry before pulling away.

"I will stand by your side through thick and thin," said Link to Zelda, his arms on her small shoulders. She smiled, and tears rolled down her face.

"And I will be your friend forever."

They both hugged again, this time, staying embracing for several minutes. When they finally took their arms off of each other, she said, "I have to get back up to Lon Lon Ranch to check on Malon and Saja."

"You go, I'll meet you there in a bit," he said. She smiled, then got up, and walked off around the base of the mountain.

Link looked back down at the grave, and sifted his hand through the freshly dug earth. Before he got up and left, he whispered one final thing to his brother, before departing.

"Your death will not be in vain."


End file.
